LIBRARY ANNEX CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE j^j^.^ Cornell University Library .B84I4 1868 The Indian tribes of Guiana; their condil 3 1924 021 107 192 DATE DUE JUW- 7- [^ Bffl IIA¥- t^^'Tfwi > 1 ly mn* • I is // ivix FtDG--itt; WhF TiiiiilM? PMHHO i ' GAVLOHD PRINTEOINU.S,*. The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924021 1 071 92 THE :ndian tkibes of guiana. VTH.Brclt, MSJ but soon found that they would stay away altogether if they thought undue restraint were practised ; and after a while it became apparent that the good they did in teaching their friends at their homes in the forest more than made amends for the evil occasioned by their irregularity. These children used to assist in cultivating a little garden, and keeping the paths free from weeds. Occasionally they went to gather the forest fruits. A fine cocorite palm grew close to the little school, and the day on which one of its enormous bunches of fruit was cut was always a time of rejoicing. Shoot- ing with bows and arrows, either at birds or at a mark set up for the purpose ; catching fish with a small rod, and other Indian pursuits, filled up the time which was not occupied by the school. I made several attempts to introduce English games, as ball, &c. among them ; but they met with no success. Even their amusements were all of a practical character, and such as would help them to get a living. They generally bathed, morning, noon, and evening, and more expert swimmers are scarcely to be found. They used to spring into the water, one after another, in rapid succession, with a great noise and splasjiing, keeping in rapid motion, and swimming with the head often under water. Sometimes they amused themselves with turning over, striking at their com- TEE ABA WAKS OB LOKONO. 1 1 1 panions with their feet at the same time, which was dexterously avoided by diving. With the stronger lads to paddle the canoe we often voyaged to the habitations of their friends — going by water up the little streams, and then jour- neying some distance on foot. Sometimes we crossed a shallow stream dryshod, on fallen timbers lying in the bottom, and found on our return that the rising of the tide compelled us to strip ere we could reeross it. I had perfect confidence in my little crew, who could swim, and at the same time carry my clothes dry above the water, and their sharp eyes would soon have detected the presence of one of the huge water- snakes or camudis which, lurking in such damp and gloomy places, are chiefly dreaded. Some of our Christian Indians now commenced the practice of fanuly prayer. Very cheering it was to hear from their open lodging-places, in the stillness of night or early morning, the low sound of the simple petitions offered in their own tongue ; a sure proof that they no longer looked on the Great Father as afar off, but as the God " who heareth prayer," to whom " all flesh " should " come." About this time our little congregation was thrown into excitement by seeing three strange canoes pass the chapel during evening prayer. Their crews were .of all shades of colour ; and their high-peaked, broad- brimmed hats and large mantles, plain or striped, showed them to be foreigners. They were twenty-six in number, all well armed and strong men ; neither .woman nor boy being with them. We saw them land 112 THE INDIAN TBIBBS OF GUIANA. at the wood-cutter's settlement, and after a pause proceed down the river. I soon after went over to make inquiries, and the proprietor, who was in the comniission of the peace, said that the appearance and behaviour of the strangers had been so suspicious that he felt it his duty, in the post-holder's absence, to follow and demand their business. Having no men with him, save an English servant who had been a soldier, and a traveller, who was on his way from the Orinoco, he asked me to take two Araw^k men and a boy, who had paddled me over the river, and accompany him. Three sturdy Warau women made the rest of our crew, the eldest of them steering. We found the party about eight miles off, encamped for the night, and preparing coffee, the fragrant odour of which spread over the river. Their appearance, as seen partly by the moonbeams broken by the forest trees and partly by their flickering fires, conveyed the idea of a gang of banditti, which impression was not diminished by the scowling looks with which they greeted our intrusion. Two white men, respect- ably dressed, were their leaders. One lay stiU in his hammock as if sick ; the other, a handsome young man, came to meet us in a defiant manner ; went into a furious passion when asked his name and business ; and refused to give any account of himself. After a sharp altercation, my companion arrested him; — a bold act, and probably without sufficient warrant. We were entirely in the hands of the strangers. There was no force to support THE ABAWlKS OB LOKONO. 113 the arrest, save the white man, Turner, who stood behind his master in the attitude of " attention," and, with only a constable's b^ton, seemed ready to arrest or fight the whole foreign party, if the word were given ; and Cornelius the Araw4k, who, paddle in hand, placed himself by me. The rest of our party had kept in or near the boat. Fierce glances and murmurs were exchanged among the dusky group around us, who seemed about to use their knives when the old soldier laid his hand on their leader's shoulder, and told him that he was his prisoner. But the latter, restraining his passion by a strong effort, quieted them by a few words in Spanish. Then turning to us, he said, " I have told my men to allow me to be taken, or where would you be? You cannot stop them — -they will proceed. Schomburgk is now in our country : reprisals will be taken upon him." The other white man, who probably thought that the matter had gone far enough, now got out of his hammock, slipped on a white jacket, and in good English, but with a foreign accent, politely requested that proceedings might be stayed. He then explained that his companion was the son of the late Colonel Hamilton, famous for his services to Bolivar in the Venezuelan revolution ; that he had travelled by way of the Cuyuni to seek a path by which his numerous herds might be brought for sale in our colony; and was now returning by a different route. Letters to prove the identity of Carlos Hamilton were produced, and the party then I 114 TBE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. allowed to proceed, with a supply of salt fish, biscuits, &c. which my companion, with provident liberality, had brought for their relief if he should find them in want, and able to give a good account of themselves. We afterwards heard that their expedition had been undertaken chiefly for a political object, having reference to the vexed boundary question, and the military expedition then fitting out in Georgetown to recapture Ptrara. They had been to Demerara, and left without calling on the authorities. The gentleman who had so blandly explained matters to us, and appeared to be their real leader, was said to be Senhor Ayres, the commander of the Brazilian force which had destroyed the Pirara mission two years before. Our Indians, who knew nothing of politics, thought that their object was to capture and enslave them, as in the olden time; but tranquillity was restored when they learned that the party had left the country, and we saw them no more. The Eev. Mr. Duke died suddenly about this time. He was deeply lamented. His part in the founda- tion of the mission has been noticed : he had visited it more than once, and seen with satisfaction its pro- mising appearance. In the following year most of the settlers left the river, owing to the failure of the arnotto trade, and the introduction of white pine and other cheap woods from North America, which in a great degree superseded the more durable but costly productions of the native forests. THE ABAWAKS OB LOKONO. 115 Being now completely isolated from civilized society, save when an occasional traveller asked shelter, an excellent opportunity was afforded me of investigating the Indian manners, ideas, languages, and traditions. Some of the last will be given in the conclusion of this work. It soon became possible to extend the sphere of labour. The Arawiks informed me that many of their tribe resided at a place called AkaA\dni, and some offered to accompany me on a visit to them. Having visited the settlement of Cornelius, and slept there, we set out early next morning, and had a cool walk of some hours through the forest. At length we came to a very narrow stream, which it was necessary to descend. The Indians had expected to find a small canoe which they usually kept there, but some person had removed it. A tree of enormous size had fallen near the spot, and lay with a part of its roots elevated several feet from the ground. An Indian climbed upon it, and, standing high above our heads, with a heavy piece of wood struck one of the broad fluted projections of the trunk near the root, which gave a loud ring- ing sound that echoed through the forest and across the swamp. This was to give notice to the party who might have borrowed the canoe, that we were in need of it. A man and a woman, who had been fishing in it, returned as soon as they heard the signal. It was old and rotten, and the sides were so low that the water entered in three places, as soon as our party I 2 116 TEE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. were seated. To remedy this, some thick stems of the moco-moco plant were cut and grooved. These heing fitted on to the upper edge of the canoe, made it an inch or two higher ; and we then proceeded, sitting as stUl as we could ; one of the party baling out all the way, whUe another paddled us through the stUl water. "We came to a beautiful savannah and lake, and saw on a small island the cottage of the principal man in that secluded district. It was embosomed amid the tall trees, and the evening sun shone brightly on its thatched roof. Its owner received us Idndly, and summoned his people, with whom we had an interesting meeting, which was prolonged to so late an hour that several of them were unable to return to their homes that night. They there- fore took up their quarters in an old house on the island. One of the corner posts of this, being rotten, gave way. A child fell into the fire beneath her, and was severely burned. Fortunately no other person was injured, but this distressing accident threw a gloom over our visit. These people had had less intercourse with civi- lized men than any others whom I had yet seen, owing to their retired situation. The lake discharges its superabundant waters into the Pomeroon by a small stream, which is blocked up with fallen trees. They said that no white man had previously visited their settlements. My attention was soon after drawn to other races, and the visit to that secluded lake was not repeated. THE ABAWAKS OB LOKONO. II7 But from time to time its inhabitants, brought by- Cornelius and others of their countrymen, came forth to join us. Meanwhile, the Arawiks, who dwelt nearer to civi- lized man, were also receiving benefit : especially those of the Ituribisi lake, and the Aruabisi coast, ^ between the Pomeroon and the island-studded mouth of the Essequibo. ^ "Ituribisi" and "Aruabisi." These names respectively signify- in Ara-w4k, " the resorts of the Ituri," or large red howling monkey, and of the " Arua," or jaguar. The sense of the latter is preserved in the name of the adjacent "Tiger" Island, as the colonists call it ; though the -word " Aruabisi," as applied to the coast, has been somewhat strangely corrupted by them into " Arabian." The language of the Araw^ks is the softest of all the Indian tongues. Though deficient, as compared with ours, in the number of words, it is capable of great nicety of expression. I was sur- prised at the number of the moods and tenses of its verbs. In some respects it is copious, as in words expressing family relation- ship, which are more strictly definite than ours. For example, in the words "brother" and "sister," each has three forms, according to the age and sex of the speaker. An Arawak man will say — f elder brother d'abugici younger brother . . . d'augfci sister/ ^^^^^ \ d'aiyuradatu I or younger J •' An Arawak woman will say — ' elder sister d'atilatu younger sister d'augitu ""^1 brother! ^^'^'' i d'acmgici uiuwici I ^j, younger j o Other very striking peculiarities abound in this as in the other Indian tongues, the words of which diflfer greatly from each other, while in their construction all are totally opposite to our modes of speech. my 118 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. Many of the former were brought out of the forests on the shores of that beautiful lake by the efforts of the Rev. W. Austin, Rector of St. John's, in their neighbourhood. His two daughters opened a school for the Araw^k children, acquired their language, and devoted themselves to the daily task of teaching, and caring for them in health and sickness. A few miles from the (now settled and cultivated) Aruabisi coast, are three other lakes, — the Capoufe, Quacabuca, and Tapacuma. Much good was done some years after among the few Indians who dwelt on their shores, by the Rev. J. F. Bourne and the the Rev. H. Hunter. But in that district there were many drawbacks, not the least being the facility with which ardent spirits, the red man's curse, are obtainable. Still it was evident to aU that a rapid change had taken place among the Araw4ks on our western border. Much interest in them was felt and expressed at that time in the colony at large : and we had reason to thank Him " who giveth the increase." CHAPTER VII. THE CARIBS, OR CAEINYA. Account of the Writer's First Visit to the Country of the CariHs — Their Costume and Appearance — Their national Character and Customs — A Glance at their Condition and Habits during the last Century — Their cruel Wars — Ancient Chiefs — Former Cannibalism. The upper part of the Pomeroonis inhabited by the " Caribs, who occupy a large tract of country, including not only the banks of that river, but those of the Manawarin, a tributary of the Moruca. They are more numerous in that district than in any other part of the lower lands of Guiana. Their settlements were much higher up the river than the site of the mission, and they would not visit it, though often passing in their canoes. The appearance of their naked bodies, and faces painted with the bright vermilion of the arnotto, was wild and savage. At some distance from us there was a " water-side," or landing-place, on the banks of the river, where they often took up their quarters for the night ; and the sound of the bamboo flute pro- ceeding from their bivouac would sometimes reach our ears, when the noisy parrots had retired to roost. 120 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. and the last breeze from the distant sea-coast had died away at sunset. Their music when close at hand is harsh and unpleasant, but it was so mel- lowed by passing over the stOl water as to possess a plaintive and melancholy sweetness ; so that one might have fancied that they were bewailing their benighted condition. Such was by no means the case. They had, as yet, no idea of anjrthing better than their present state ; and while they possessed health, were perfectly satisfied to eat, drink, and enjoy the passing moment, without care for future interests, whether of a temporal or eternal nature. On one occasion, some members of the family of their chief had called to visit me. I was surprised at first, but soon discovered from their manner that they were slightly intoxicated, which accounted for so unusual a circumstance. Having acquired all the information I could con* cerning them, the Araw4ks at the mission were in- formed of my intention to visit the Caribi country. Some of them offered to accompany me. The two nations seemed on friendly terms, often trafficking with each other ; but a quarrel had taken place in the neighbourhood a short time before between two individuals, in the course of which the one betook himself to his cutlass, while the other ran for his club. The affair ended with mutual threats. It did not seem expedient to take any adult person with me, as unpleasant results might ensue; for even friendly feelings, as I knew by experience, might lead to a THE CABIBS, OB CABINYA. 121 paiwari drinking, and a feast or fray would alike be but little conducive to the end in view. The youths who generally paddled my canoe seemed best fitted to be my companions in this expedition. Accompanied by four of these lads, I set out one Monday morning in June 1841 ; the Araw4ks, who had been to church on the previous day, standing on the banks of the river, and waving their hands, in token of wishing good success to the Gospel of Christ among their neighbours and ancient foes. We went briskly up the river for several miles with the flowing tide, and, turning up a small stream to the left, arrived before noon at the first Caribi settlement, called ." Kamwatta " (or the Bamboo), from an enormous cluster of those trees which stands near it. This was the residence of " France," the brother of their chief. He was not at home, being absent with most of the male inhabitants, but his two wives were present, with several other women, all busily engaged in their usual occupations. The appearance of those women was very barbarous, as is indeed the case with most of the Caribi females. Their dress was merely a narrow strip of blue cloth, and their naked bodies were smeared with the red arnotto, which gave them the appearance of bleeding fi-om every pore. As if this were not sufiiciently ornamental, some of them had endeavoured to improve its appearance by blue spots upon their bodies and limbs. They wore round each leg, just below the knee, a tight strap of cotton, painted red, and another above each ankle. These are fastened on while the 122 THE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. girl is young, and hinder the growth of the parts by their compression, while the calf, which is unconfined, appears, in consequence, unnaturally large. AU the Caribi women wear these, which they caU sapuru, and consider as a great addition to their beauty. But the most singular part of their appearance is presented by the lower lip, which they perforate, and wear one, two, or three pins stickiag through the hole, with the points outward. Before they procured pins, thorns or other similar substances were thus worn. Should they wish to use the pin, they wiU take it out, and again replace it in the lip when its services are no longer required. Of these women I inquired respecting their husbands, and received an answer in their language, very copious, but to me perfectly unintelligible. Perceiving this, they pointed to a man standing at some distance, whom I found to be a stranger from the interior. He was the most picturesque object I had yet seen in Guiana, possessing a symmetrical figure, which was seen to great advantage in his native costume. His name he said was " Wericum." This I afterwards found to be a corruption of the English word " wel- come." The cloth which is worn by the Caribi men, secured by a cord round the loins, is often of sufficient length to form a kind of scarf As it would otherwise trail on the ground, they dispose it in a graceful manner over the shoulders, so that part of it falls on the bosom, while the end hangs down the back. It is often adorned with large cotton tassels, and is the TEE CABIBS, OR CABINTA. 123 most decent and serviceable, as well as the most picturesque covering worn by any of the native tribes. The coronal of feathers for the head is sometimes worn, but not generally. The head is usually adorned by a large daub of arnotto on the hair above the brow, and the forehead and cheeks are painted in various patterns with the same vermilion colour. This renders them ferocious in their appearance, and was probably adopted by their ancestors with that view, but the modern Caribs have an idea that it adds greatly to the beauty of their faces. Some men of this tribe also smear their bodies with the arnotto, in the manner abeady mentioned as practised by the women. There was at that settlement an old man, whose white hair and eyes dim with age showed that he must have far exceeded the usual term of human life. He lay in his hammock continually, and seemed to have lost part of his faculties. That old man could doubtless once have told many a tale of strife and carnage, derived from his ancestors, and some perhaps witnessed by himself, during the sanguinary contests in which his nation was engaged in his youth. The stranger whom I have mentioned received directions from the principal wife of the master of the settlement, and I understood, by the names used, that he was to guide me through the forest to the residence of the chief. To this I gladly assented, and dismissed my lads with the canoe, with directions for them to go to a certain place on the banks of the main river, where I would rejoin them. The Carib 124 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. then threw over his shoulder the elegant tasselled scarf worn by his nation, and, taking his gun, led the way into the forest. The walk was cool, the trees magnificent in size and beauty, and the path goodj with the exception of a swamp which we had to cross. As this was always a difficult task, and one which occasioned me some delay, I lost sight of our guide for a time, but he soon reappeared, standing among the tall trees on a bank above us ; and as he saw Ifili, the Araw^k boy whom I had retained with me, fetching water in a large leaf to cleanse my feet, he smiled, apparently at the inconvenience of shoes and other necessaries of civilized life. Borowai, which was the name of the village we next came to, was superior in the neatness and clean- liness of its houses to any Indian place which I had yet seen. Although several of the inhabitants were unclothed, yet none of the women were smeared with the arnotto like those at Kamwatta. The chief was called " Commodore " by the settlers, as was his father before him, and it has become the fixed surname of the family. He was gone farther into the interior with his son and most of the men, to my regret ; for I had calculated on persuading him to accompany me to visit his people. The principal part of the design was thus, to all appearance, frustrated. There were but three men present, one of whom, I was happy to find, spoke a little English. Having seated myself on a low, rudely-carved stool in the house appointed for conference among the men, I began to talk with them, telling them that good people THE CABIB8, OB GABINYA. 125 in my own country had sent me over the great sea, to teach them how they might serve " Tamosi " accept- ably, and live with Him after death. They listened with great interest, and gave me a large pine and a cluster of ripe bananas at taking leave, which showed that they were not displeased at the visit. There was but one settler residing in their country, and he was on the point of quitting it. We slept at his house, which was situated on a hill named Carowob, the burial-place of the ancient Caribi chiefs of Pome- roon, and at early dawn again went on our way. About 9 A.M. we arrived at a place where the Pomeroon divides into two branches ; the left being the main stream, while that to the right is called Issororo. Up this latter we proceeded. The weather was delightful, and though our prospect was very limited, yet each object was beautiful and striking : the venerable forests, with the manicole palms growing out of the river, and reaching a great height; the mirror-like stream, reflecting every leaf on its unruffled surface ; the fish springing from the waters, and the splendid azure butterflies fluttering among the leaves, — all rendered the scene interesting to a stranger. Over our heads the king of the vultures hovered motionless on his strong pinions, while many of the common species were at a respectful distance, flying in circles through the sultry air. To complete a picture so purely South American, a party of Caribs, with their bright copper skins, black hair, and brows variously adorned, now passed us. They were seated apparently on the surface of the water, their frail 126 THIS INDIAN TMIBES OP GVIANA. canoes, or woodskins, made of the bark of the purple- heart tree, being at a little distance scarcely visible beneath them. The people at the settlements on the Issororo seemed rather pleased than otherwise at our visit, when they understood its object. Most of the men were absent from this district also, so that we seemed to have come at a very unseasonable time. In seeking for the first settlement, Pegassa, we took a wrong direction, which led us by an abandoned path, first through a very disagreeable and difficult swamp, and then through an old provision ground, so overgrown with thick grass, shrubs, and briers, that it was only with great exertion we could get through. The sun is intensely hot in these fields, as the surrounding forest prevents the breeze from cooling the air. Having at length reached the right path, I was surprised at a loud scream from three little Caribi girls, who were terrified at the object which, with scorched face, and clothes soiled with mud from the swamp, and covered with grass- seeds from the jungle, suddenly presented itself before them. One of them took to her heels, and ran shriek- ing to give the alarm. As this was an unpleasant introduction to her family, it seemed best to follow and attempt to pacify her, but her swiftness rendered the attempt vain. Her mother came hastUy from the house to meet her, and perceiving the object of her child's alarm, said something which quieted her. There was no one but this woman at the place ; and as I had collected a few words of their language at Borowai, I asked for " Wakuri," the man. She smiled THE GABIBS, OB CABINYA. 127 at the bad pronunciation of the Caribi, and pointed witb her hand to the path which led to the next settlement, Tonambo. We arrived there much fatigued. A very tall man, named Yan, soon came in from hunting, and to him I told the object of my visit. He seemed favourably disposed, and, when I left, gave me a large pine in token of good feeling. An old woman added a piece of cassava bread. After three days' absence we returned to the mis- sion ; and the first question put by the Araw^ks was this, " Did you get any of them ?" It showed a right feeling in some of them, who seemed very anxious to spread the little knowledge they possessed. Three weeks elapsed without our hearing anything of the Caribs. I had given up all hopes of them, and was meditating another visit, when on my return from a day's journey among the Araw^ks, I was told they had been at the mission inquiring for me. The next day (Sunday) we had the pleasure of seeing old Commodore arrive with the people from his village. The next Sunday he again came with nine of his people, and the following week we rejoiced to see five canoes full of Caribs of both sexes, and among them our friends from the Issororo. I soon after visited the settlement of the chief to induce him to place his children under my care for instruction, and to use his influence with the people of his tribe for the same purpose. This he promised to do. The national character of the Caribs has ever been that of obstinate, fearless bravery. They are 128 THE INDIAN TBIBE8 OF GUIANA. acknowledged by the other tribes as superior in desperate courage, and have always been dreaded by them. They are fully aware of this, and there is consequently as much national pride in them as in any European race. The Araw4ks also possess a great degree of national pride, but it is founded more on superior intelligence and civilization ; whUe that of the Caribs arises from the remembrance of former domination and the consciousness of daring valour. They are, however, very credulous, and easily excited by any flying rumour, of which I have known several instances. They are not larger in person than the people of other tribes, but are generally very weU pro- portioned. Their young men may claim preference over those of the other aboriginal races for elegance of form. Their dress, and custom of painting their bodies, has been already described. They also lubricate their skins with oil, made of the seeds of the caraba-tree. They consider this and the use of the arnotto as a great improvement of their beauty. The" women of this tribe are noted for weaving excellent and durable hammocks of cotton, which they cultivate for that purpose. These are aU. made by hand, and the process is very slow and tedious ; but the hammocks so made are said to surpass all others. They form an important article of their traffic ; but, though expensive, the price is by no means an ade- quate remuneration for the time and labour bestowed on them. THE CABIBS, OB eAUINYA. 129 Their custoras with respect to marriage do not greatly differ from those of the other tribes. In the treatment of the dead, their habits are said to have been peculiar. If the person deceased were of some distinction, his bones, after burial for some months, were cleaned by the women, and carefuUy preserved in their houses. This custom was practised by several of the tribes of Guiana, some of which immersed the body in water untU the bones had been picked clean by the pirai and other fish, when they were carefuUy dried, tinged with red, and suspended in the roof of their habitation, as the greatest proof of attachment which could be shown.' This custom of preserving the bones of their dead for some time, though stiU observed in remote places, is now becoming obsolete, and must expire as Christianity spreads among them. It is difficult for any one who should visit the Caribs at their peaceful settlements to believe that they are the descendants of those savage warriors who spread terror over the West Indian Islands, and a great portion of the continent of South America. I found them in a tranquil state, undisturbed except by occasional quarrels among themselves, which arose at a paiwari feast, or from the use of rum. When excited they are, however, ungovernably fierce. I once met a Carib who had lost a portion of his nose, which had been bitten off by his own brother, as he said, in a drunken quarrel. Such occurrences were not very frequent; and disputes were generally taken to the ^ Stedman, chap. xv. K 130 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. post-holders, or others, who used their influence to prevent quarrelling and fighting between them; for whose protection the Indians were grateful, and by whose determinations they would faithfully abide. But, up to the close of the last century, their savage propensities had full scope. When any dispute hap- pened with another tribe, they were accustomed to attack those who had offended them, and, surrounding their scattered villages in the night, would make them prisoners ; the men, who would be Ukely to escape, were put to death, while the women and children of both sexes were reserved for sale.' Sometimes they attacked thfe enemies openly in the day-time ; and it is sai^^o have been a boast of theirs, that they would paddle their canoes against the current to the settlements they intended to attack, that the sound of their paddles might give warning of their approach, and their enemies prepare to engage them. At that time the Caribs were considered as the most numerous as well as the most warlike of all the tribes. They were independent of the colonists, though latterly in alliance with them. They had no strictly hereditary sovereigns :— if the son of a great leader equalled his father in bravery and skill, h« might succeed to his power ;^if not, they would choose another to head them in any warlike undertaking. It was necessary for the candidates for such an office to possess more strength and courage than their feUows, . and to be perfectly . acquainted with every art and stratagem of savage warfare. They were required, by 1 Bancroft, p. 258. THE CABIB8, OB GABINYA. 131 long fasting, to give proof of their powers of endur- ance, and to show their bodUy strength by bearing heavy burdens. It has been even said, that the Carib chief who aspired to the honour of commanding his brethren, was exposed to the biting of ants for a certain time/ The man who could thus bear torture and fatigue of any kind, and was a stranger to fear, was chosen to be their captain ; and the bows and arrows of the tribe were laid at his feet in. token of obedience.^ Those customs were gradually laid aside. It was the evident interest of the colonists to flatter the pride of the Indian chiefs, which they effectually did by pre- senting to them insignia of office, consisting of a plate of one of the precious metals to be worn on the bosom, and a silver-headed staff of office to be borne in the hand. By degrees, the Indians came to look upon these as indispensable to the office ; and the power of confirming the appointment of their chiefs fell into the hands of the colonists. The honour of the chieftainship is at present but small. The alliance of the Dutch colonists with this tribe greatly assisted in saving them from destruction during the insurrection of their slaves in 1763. The Caribs kiUed many, as appear^ by the number of dried hands which they brought in. For each of these the sum of 1 Abb^ Eaynal's History of the Indies, book xiii. 2 The war councils of the island Caribs are said to have been held in a secret dialect or jargon, known only to their chiefs and elders. Tlie men were initiated in this only after attaining dis- tinction as warriors ; the women, never. K 2 132 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. twenty-five florins was usually paid, and for a living captive fifty. Such ie one portion of the dreadful picture whicli the life of the Indian, as well as of every other race in the colony, presented during those sad times. But that is not all. The Caribs are said to have eaten the bodies of the slain. This is expressly asserted by Ban- croft, who, as a resident in the colony, had the best opportunity of knowing the truth. Another writer, who was himself engaged soon after in the same warfare, thus writes of the Caribs : '* However unnatural it may seem, and however much it has been contradicted, they are anthropophagi, or cannibals ;^ at least, they most certainly feast on their enemies, whose flesh they tear and devour with the avidity of wolves,"^ No other tribe near the coast of Guiana has been so recently accused of cannibalism ; and it is probable that, even with respect to the Caribs, exaggeration has prevailed. It is, however, impossible to disprove the accounts handed down to us ; though it would be plea- sant to do so. It is needless to say that this custom no J ^ Humtoldt says that the Caribs of Guisina were not man-eaters, like those of the islands, and those whom he met at the Spanish missions had certainly ahandoned the practice long before. Yet, with some inconsistency, he repeatedly uses the above epithets in speaking of the incursions and deeds of the heathen Caribs of Guiana. ? Stedman, chap. xv. The same author also mentions it inci- dentally in other parts of his work, as a well-known fact. He also obtained a flute, made by them, of a thigh-bone of one of their enemies, of which he has given a representation. TRE OABIBS, OB CABINYA. 133 longer prevails, and of their present habits it has been observed : " It is true the Caribisce make flutes of the thigh-bones of their enemies, but they abhor the idea of eating their flesh or drinking their blood, and this abhorrence is general."' Being desirous of knowing the ideas of the existing race as to those practices of their ancestors, I once inquired of an intelligent young Christian Carib. He became much excited, seemed both ashamed and indig- nant, and answered, " That he had heard of their doing such things, but he thought they must have eaten the flesh of animals, while they pretended to eat that of their enemies." I made no further inquiry, as it seemed to give them pain. Wherever Christianity prevails, there barbarous practices must not only fall, but come to be regarded with horror and surprise. May God grant that, even in Hindostan, future gene- rations may yet, in the fulness of Gospel light, doubt the reality of the Suttees, and other abominations of their fathers ! Long before the abolition of negro slavery, the custom of the Indian tribes enslaving each other was discountenanced by the British, and the pur- chase of slaves so taken was prohibited. This was successful in removing a great inducement to pre- datory expeditions, which were generally attended with bloodshed. It was, however, accompanied by a melancholy circumstance. " A Caribi chief, in- dignant at the refusal of the Governor to accept of a fine slave, immediately dashed out the brains of 1 M. Martin, West Indies, p. 53. 134- THE INDIAN TBIBE3 OF GUIANA. the slave, and declared that for the future his nation should never give quarter."^ "The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." 1 The usual club of the Cai-ibs is made of the heaviest wood in the forest ; it is about eighteen inches long, flat, and square at both ends, but heavier at one end than the other. It is thinner in the middle, and wound round with cotton thread, with a loop to secure it to the wrist. It is called by them " Potu." One blow with this club, in which they sometimes fixed a sharp stone, wiU scatter the J) rains. They used to fix the stone in the future club by sticking it in the tree while growing j it soon became firm, and in due time the tree was cut and shaped according to the fancy of the Indian. This latter kind is, however, seldom met with, and the weapon is sufiiciently formidable when made of wood alone. CHAPTER VIII. VISIT TO THE ACAWOIOS. Journey through the Caribi Country to an Aoawoio Settlement — Eeception and Eesults of the Visit — Description of the Acawoios — Their Persons, Ornaments, &c. — The Blow-pipe and Ourali, or Arrow Poison — The Haiarri, and Method of poisoning Fish — Their roving Disposition, and long Journeys for Tra£B.c and Plunder — The Smiall-pox — State of the Pomeroon Mission in 1842. The two tribes, the Araw^k and Caribi, continued to meet at the mission on the most friendly terms, and their lodging-places formed a small village along the bank of the river. The settlements of each tribe were occasionally visited ; those of the Caribs the more frequently, as they were the least advanced. On one of those occasions, we saw at a landing- place on the bank of the river one of those beautifully spotted but destructive animals which infest the coun- try. It was approaching the water to drink, and, as the canoe ran ashore, it placed itself on a fallen tree, where it stood with its brilliant eyes fixed upon one of the lads, who went forward with his paddle to drive it away. It was not till the number of its assailants had increased that it retreated ; which it did with a light 136 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. and agile motion, of which those who have seen those animals only in confinement can have but little idea. The Caribs on the Issororo continued to show every willingness to receive Christian instruction ; and at Pegassa, where we usually took up our quarters for the night, the people who assembled for evening prayers would sit for a long time afterwards, listening to words which were interpreted by one of their countrymen. On one of those occasions the scene was very impres- sive. Our place of meeting was a small area in the centre of the village, where the white sandy soil was kept free from weeds. Here, with the bright tropical moon over head, sat, or squatted, a group of wild- looking people in every attitude of attention, listening to the " good word." It was indeed a scene of beauty, from the various kinds of trees and shrubs seen in the clear moonlight, while the solemn stillness, unbroken save by the low chirping of various insects, made it seem as if Nature were hushed to hear of the sufferings of her Lord. , The children, who had been so alarmed at my first appearance among them, had long since got over thefa: fright, and some were attendants at the mission- school. From thence I set out one morning, under the escort of Yan and one or two other Caribs, to visit every settlement in that quarter. The presence of those guides insured a good reception at every place ■we came to, and our company gradually increased, till at last we had twelve fine-looking men in our traiin. In the more remote settlements there was VISIT TO THE AOA WOIOS. 137 not a shirt, frock, or other European garment to be seen ; the people all looked wild and careless, being perfectly satisfied with their condition. The stream becoming smaller as we ascended it, further progress was only practicable in a very small canoe, which would scarcely hold three persons. Our companions went along a footpath, being frequently lost to sight for a time, and then were seen emerging from the forest and crossing the stream before us on fallen trees, which form the usual bridges of the Indians. Some of these the canoe must be hauled over, and others it passes under, the people inside lying down to avoid coming in contact with them. At last we quitted the river, and proceeded through a very marshy forest. They then halted, and told me that we had passed aU the Caribi settlements, and were now entering the country of the Acawoios. Having expressed a wish to proceed, they agreed to conduct me to a settlement called Konosa. As we drew near it, twelve or thirteen dogs, which heard our approaching footsteps, came rushing down the path, and made directly at me, as the most unusual object, but were driven back by the paddles of the Caribs, who ran forward to my assistance. The settlement we found to be in great confusion. There were an equal number of other dogs seated on a long rude table, each being tied to a stout bar of wood fastened to the posts of the house. An Acawoio woman was endeavouring to catch those which were loose, and tie them up in like manner, t(D keep them from her guest's. Most of them wete •138 THE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. growling and snarling with all their might, and the efforts of the woman to restore order among six-and-twenty dogs were ineffectual, until she had chastised the most noisy with a long switch. In answer to my inquiries, the Caribs told me that the master of the settlement carried on a traffic with those animals, which were of an excellent hunting breed. He soon made his appearance, and saluted me in Creole Dutch. Yan then entered into a long conversation with him, and at my desire explained the little he had learned himself: told him of the intentions of some of the Caribs to learfl. the good word of God : and asked him to come with his family to the mission, as people of all nations, were called by the Son of God. The old man listened with great attention to our Caribi friend, who was simple-minded and earnest, and prevailed with him to give his consent. I was myself perfectly useless in the conference, from ignorance of j;heir tongue. After this we were invited to take some refresh- ment ; and, as there was no meat to be obtained until the young men came from hunting, cassava bread was set before us, with a sauce made of the casareep or boiled cassava juice, to which a quantity of red pepper is added. I had frequently partaken of a similar sauce, but never of anything equal to that. The Caribs ate of it with impunity ; but it was sufficient to excoriate the mouth of any other person than an Indian. On our return journey the Caribs gradually left me. VISIT TO THE A CA WOIOS. 139 each remaining at Hs own settlement. My host having gone roimd in the canoe, I had to walk the last stage alone. It was not more than a mile ; but, being tired and very footsore from having worn no shoes that day on account of swamps, I made slow progress ; and at length wandered from the path in the twilight, and foxmd myself on the banks of a little stream which I had not before seen. The prospect of being benighted, alone and without fire or weapons, in a district so infested with jaguars as the Issororo, was not a pleasant one. While doubting whether to cross the rivulet and push on, or endeavour in the dim light to regain the lost path, I heard a loud scream at some little distance. Concealed by a projecting bank was a Carib woman of the settlement to which I was going, who had just been bathiag her children for the night. One of them had rolled down the steep sandy bank, and uttered the cry which guided me to them. It was a most providential circumstance, for I had lost the track entirely, but was now safe. A few weeks after our return to the mission, the Acawoio family from Konosa commenced attendance there, with most of the Caribs from Issororo. Near the sources of the Pomeroon there were some settlements of the Acawoios, whom I was preparing to visit, though with little hope of inducing them to attend from such a distance. They soon, however, quitted their abode, so as to be able to attend the missions on the Essequibo, to which they were much nearer than to ours. Their neighbours informed us 140 THE INDIAN TRIBES OP GUIANA. of this, and tlie welcome intelligence prevented our intended visit. In person and stature the Acawoios resemble the other tribes, but they may be recognised by their peculiar physiognomy, and the manner in which they contrive to. adorn, or rather disfigure, their features, which are not unpleasing, though grave and some- what melancholy. They use the bright red of the arnotto, and also paint their faces and bodies with blue streaks, in which they take great pains. They wear a piece of wood or a quill stuck through the cartQage of the nose, and some individuals have similar ornaments through the lobe of the ear. They formerly distin- guished themselves by a circular hole, about half an inch in diameter, made in the lower part of the under lip, in which was inserted a piece of wood of equal size with the hole, which was cut off almost even with the outer skin, the inner end pressing against the roots of the teeth. This latter ornament is now but seldom seen, but the others are general. The ourali,^ or arrow poison, which they use in common with other tribes of the interior of Guiana, is now well known. The arrows or spikes anointed with it are made of the cocorite palm. They are usually about one foot in length, and very slender. One end is sharpened and envenomed with the ourali : and around the other is wound a ball or tuft of fleecy cotton, adapted to the size of the cavity of the blow-pipe, through which it is to be discharged. 1 Written also "wourali," "urali," "urari," "curare," &c., ac- cording to i\e, pronunciation of the various tribes. VISIT TO THE A CA WOIOS. 1 4 1 To preserve these delicate and dangerous spikes, and to guard himself from the death which a slight prick from one of them would convey, the Indian hunter makes a small quiver of bamboo, which he covers with deer-skin "and ornaments with cotton strings. To this is usually attached the maxilla (or jaw bone) of the fish called pirai. This is used for partly cutting off the poisoned part of the arrow, which is done by rapidly turning it between the teeth of the maxilla : so that when the game is struck, the envenomed point may break off in the wound, while the shaft, which falls on the ground, can be recovered by the Indian, sharpened, and poisoned for further use. The blow-pipe is a reed, or small palm, about nine feet in length, which is hollowed and lined with another smooth reed.^ The Indians are very careful of them, and frequently turn them when placed in their houses, lest they should become in the slightest degree bent or warped by remaining in one position. They sometimes cover them with handsome ■' pegall " work, and sell them as curiosities to the colonists. The small poisoned arrows are, by a single blast from the lungs, sent through the cavity of the reed, and fly for some distance with great swiftness and accurate aim, conveying speedy and certain death. The tribes which use these weapons are accustomed to them from their infancy, and by long practice they acquire a degree of dexterity which is inimitable by strangers, and would be incredible, were it not for the 1 The Arundinaria. Schomhurghii, a single internode of wliich is sometimes 16 feet in length. 142 THE lyDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. fact that they depend upon them for most of their animal food. As an Indian said to one of our country- men, "The blow-pipe is ova gan, and the poisoned arrow is to us powder and shot." The ourali is said to be fatal when it has mixed with the blood in the smallest degree, but to have no poisonous effect on an unbroken skin. The animals killed with it appear to suffer no violent pain, though convulsions occur as they expire. It does not affect the flesh, which is perfectly good for food.^ The Macusis, who prepare a very strong kind, use more than a dozen different plants in its composition. Of these the only ingredients really essential seem to be the bush-rope which contains the poisonous ^ Some of the Indians who prepare this poison affect to consider it as superior to gunpowder. " I know," said an old poison master to Humboldt, " that you whites can make soap, and prepare the black powder which has the defect of making a noise while killing animals. But this poison is superior to anything you can make. It kills silently, so that no one knows whence the stroke comes.'' The same traveller says of 'this poison, "The Otomacs on the Orinoco frequently poison their thumb-nails with the curare. The mere impress of the naU proves fatal, should it mix with the blood." He procured at Esmeralda specimens of the poison and of the plant which yields it, but could not find the latter in blossom. He states, however, that more than forty years after, it was dis- covered in flower on the banks of the Pomeroon and Issororo, by Eicbard Schomburgk. That traveller visited our mission district about the time of which this chapter treats. The poison is not manufactured there. " Experiments have shown that the ourali does not belong to the class of tetanic poisons, and that it especially produces a cessation of voluntary muscular movements, while the functions of the in- voluntary muscles, as the heart and intestines, remain unimpaired." — Humboldt's Narrative and Views of Nature. VISIT TO THE ACAWOIOS. 143 principle, and a kind of lily, the bulb of wbich sup- plies the thick juice which gives the poison the necessary consistence. The Acawoios also supply the coast tribes with considerable quantities of the haiarri root, which is used in poisoning fish. These roots are usually cut in pieces of about two feet in length, and tied up in small bundles, which have a powerful and disagreeable scent. Some of these pieces, bruised till the fibres separate, and then washed in an inclosed piece of water ; or in a small stream, at the turn of the tide, when there is little or no current, will cause the fish to rise to the surface apparently intoxicated and gasping. In a few minutes they float motionless, and the larger kinds are shot with barbed arrows, while the smaller ones are struck with knives previously to their being taking out of the water. This is done to save trouble, as they might revive if a heavy shower of rain were suddenly to fall, or fresh water to reach them. The fish so taken are perfectly wholesome ; — perhaps the action of fire has some effect in de- stroying any noxious quality which these poisons may possess, as in the well-known instance of the juice of the cassava. The Acawoios also carry on a traffic in many other things ; and they have been called, from their roving propensities, the pedlars and news-carriers of the north- eastern coast. They are in constant communication with the inhabitants of Venezuela and the Brazils, as well as with the colonists of Demerara, Surinam, and Cayenne. 144 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF aUIANA. ■ Notwithstanding this roving disposition, tHey are attentive to agriculture, and are said to cu.ltivate more land than any other tribe ; that they may have not only a supply of provisions for themselves, but for any other party who may chance to call, the rules of hospi- tality being strictly observed. But after they have planted their fields, and prepared their warlike imple- ments, they sell whatever articles they may have on hand, and with a supply of English goods, and as many fire-arms as they can muster, set oflf to the Venezuelan or BrazUiau territories to barter them there for other articles. Of the nature of those journeys through the wUds of the interior, the follow- ing account has been given by one who was weU acquainted with the habits of this tribe:' — "In these expeditions, in which several families join, their chief care is to provide a good stock of bread ; they then march for three days, and halt for two, during which they hunt, and barbacote or dry their game ; and they are in no distress for provisions, for even two or three months, which is frequently the duration of their journeys. " In these marches, when they approach a village, it signifies not of what nation, they prepare to attack it. If it be on the alert, and strong enough to resist, they conclude a treaty of commerce, eat together, and trade, without reserve or suspicion; but if the place be weak, and the inhabitants off their guard, those who resist are instantly massacred, and the remainder become slaves to the victors. 1 Mr. Hillliouse. VISIT TO THE A CA WOIOS. 145 ' " Their audacity in these predatory excursions is astonishing. If a party can muster eight or ten stand of fire-arms, it will fight its way through all the mountain tribes, though at open war with them, and by the rapidity of their marches, and nightly en- terprises, they conceal the weakness of their numbers, and carry terror before them."^ Soon after my journey to the Acawoio settlement, the Caribi territory through which I had passed was ravaged by the smaU-pox. Its neat and flourishing villages became the scenes of death and misery. ^ Many sad tales were told respecting this visitation. At one settlement, where many had died, a young stranger, when stricken with the disease, had been left to perish ; none daring to approach him with a draught of water. It was said that at another place fire had been set to a house, that a corpse- within it might be therewith consumed. At my own settlement the small-pox attacked the negro family, which by other arrivals now numbered sixteen. The school was for a time broken up, and the Indians warned to avoid the place. But my Araw4k boy, Ifili (or David), positively refused to leave me. He remained while the small-pox suc- cessively attacked every individual at the settlement with me except himself. The destructive sweep of this disease overcame the re- luctance of the Indians to use the remedies of civilized man ; and many of them consented to be vaccinated. ^ For a further account of the Acawoio or Kapohn race, sea Part II. cLap. v. &c. L 146 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GlflANA. When the small-pox had passed away the Indian congregation increased. Our chapel had been en- larged and beautified by the addition of a chancel, porch, and belfry, and the whole was raised on stout blocks of timber. We frequently had therein people of six different languages — the EngUsh, Creole-Dutch, Araw4k, Caribi, Acawoio, and Warau, individuals of the latter degraded tribe being sometimes brought by the others. They could at first scarcely be prevented from getting in and out at the windows. Sometimes one would place himself on the window-sill, and squat- ting on his heels, rest his elbows on his knees, and his jaw on both hands, and quietly, with gaping mouth, and somewhat vacant look, observe what was going on. But, however motley and uncouth our assembly, it was satisfactory to see that the once wretched build- ing was fast becoming the house of prayer for all the tribes around. CHAPTEE IX. WAKAPOA LAKE AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. Expedition to Mauawarin. and Wakapoa — Its Eesults — Maquarri Dance of the Arawaks-T-Difficulties — "Captain Peter's Church" Mosqiutoes. To the westward of the Pomeroon there are several fine lakes, or "wet" savannahs, as they are called. One of these has been already mentioned. A larger one, called Wakapoa, is situated a few miles' distance from the river's mouth. Their borders were inhabited by Indians of the Araw^k nation. On the banks of the Pomeroon itself, and at no great distance from the Wakapoa, there were several planta- tions, on which provisions were cultivated by a popu- lation of about 300 labourers, chiefly of African origin. In the beginning of 1842 Mr. W. T. Smithett ar- rived as lay reader of that district, and it was soon arranged that we should in company visit the heathen Araw4ks of the Wakapoa, and take with us Cor- nelius and his brother-in-law Thomas, as paddlers and interpreters. WhUe we were embarking at the landing-place of one of the plantations, called Caledonia, an Indian canoe drew near. In it was an old chief, named John L 2 148 THE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. Wanyawai, the head of the Caribs in a more distant river, the Manawarin. Learning our object, the old man said that he would be glad of a visit from us. This seemed an opening for Christianity in. a stUl wilder and more distant territory. We therefore resolved to accompany him first to his settlement, though ill prepared (our canoe beiag too small for such an expedition) ; and to visit the Wakapoa on our return. It was necessary to descend the river, and go on the sea for four or five miles. • A dense mangrove forest borders the river's mouth, and there the manati, or sea-cow, is often met with. This creature is of great length, very thick, and clumsy in shape. It some- times raises its blunt head out of the water, and feeds on the herbage which grows on the banks ; sup- porting its body on two strong pectoral fins, which the female also uses ia holding her young. Its tail is flat, and of a circular shape. Though very large, it is quiet and timid, and its flesh is good food. The estuary or bay which extends between the Pomeroon and Moruca was crossed without difi&culty, the day being fine. Near the mouth of the latter stream we saw a number of wooden piles standing in the sea, the remains of an old Dutch fortification. The Spaniards attacked this post in 1797, but were repulsed with severe loss. Their vessels grounded on the mud flat, and were disabled by the fire of the garrison. An old coloured man who saw the fight, described to me the Spanish crew of a burning vessel as struggling through the " drift mud " to the WAKAPOA LAKE. 149 shore, with white cloths bound round their heads as a token of surrender. On the opposite bank cannon- balls have been found, the relics of that engagement : but the fort, and the land on which it stood, have long since disappeared. In the estuary sharks and saw-fish are often seen.' The Moruca is a narrow stream of no great length. It is, however, valuable as affording an inland water communication with the Orinoco, by way of the Waini and Barima. A number of Venezuelans, of the mixed race called Spanish Araw^ks, having some years before sought refuge from revolutionary horrors within our boun- daries, had settled on the Moruca. They were, of course, members of the Church of Eome. At the ^ The saw-fisii is sometimes found t-wenty feet in length. Its " saw " resemHes tlie elongated snout of the sword-fish, with the addition of a row of formidable teeth on each side along its edges. As these cause it to resemble a corrib more than a saw, the negroes call it the " comb-fish." Large specimens of those creatures may sometimes be seen with their dorsal fins just visible above the surface. They are dangerous to approach, and if molested turn savagely on the assailant. A young man, whom I knew, having discharged an arrow at one, it immediately attacked and broke his small canoe, striking right and left witb. its formidable weapon, and killin g his dog which was sitting in the bow. The young man himself escaped from the stern into a large Warau canoe, which was fortunately in. company. Some years after the above incident, while crossing the same spot with tbe Rev. W. G. G. Austin, we disturbed one of those creatures, whicb was apparently taking its siesta at the rippling surface in the heat of the day. It swam swiftly round us for a considerable time, evidently angry and desirous to attack, but deterred by the size of oui boat and the stroke of its eight • paddles. 150 TSE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. time we visited the river, a station called Santa Eosa had recently been established there, and the Eev. J. CuHen, who remained -with them more than fom-teen years, was their padre. We did not enter their district, but left it on the right hand. Oux object was to penetrate the wide- spreading heathen country which no Christian teacher had ever visited. We therefore turned up the Mana- warin, which, though called a tributary, is larger than the Moruca itself. We had to take up our quarters for the night on the banks of the Manawarin, and after prayers endeavoured to compose ourselves to sleep. Our shelter was imperfect, consisting of a small flat roof of manicole leaves, just sufficient to cover two ham- mocks. The Indians made large fires, and suspended their hammocks over them between the trees. This is the best protection from the wild animals and reptiles which abound in that dense forest. A loud splash was occasionally heard in the water, which the Indians said was occasioned by the plunging of an alligator. About midnight it began to rain heavily, and the water which dripped through the roof compelled me to rise, and stand till morning. The Indians were likewise wet, and with difficulty managed to shelter one of the fires, so as to keep it from being extin- guished. The sound of the heavy dropping of the rain from the leaves and branches was only varied by the occasional falling of some large seed-pod fi-om the tall trees. All seemed uncomfortable, except my WJEAPOA LAKE. 151 friend, who still slept on, and Thomas, who had con- trived to fix one of our umbrellas over his hammock so as to keep his body pretty dry. A little negro boy had been admitted to share this shelter, and lay in the hammock fast asleep, with his black woolly head on the red bosom of the good-natured Indian. The next day we passed through a district in- habited by about one hundred Waraus, several of whom we visited. They listened with perfect in- difiference to all we said, and were most importunate beggars. Very different was the reception we experienced at the dwelling of the old Caribi chief, who seemed to consider our visit as a great honour. He intro- duced us to his two sons, and to several of his tribe, promising to use all his influence to induce them to listen to Christian teaching. He would doubtless have done so had he lived; but the hand of death was even then overshadowing himself and his people. The small-pox soon came upon them, and destroyed many, dispersing the survivors in terror all over the country for a time. At a Warau settlement which we visited, we found a poor girl who had been dreadfully btirnt some time before, the fire having caught her hammock whUe she slept. She was in a shocking state, and it was evident that the Indian remedies were only increasing her sufferings. We offered to procure medical assistance, if her family would remove her to the coast. She seemed a very meek and patient child, and her look of gratitude for our sympathy 152 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. was most affecting. Her friends, however, took no trouble about her, and she probably died soon after. On our return, being anxious to reach our stations before the Sabbath, we ventured to cross the sea soon after midnight, the weather being fine, though the night was dark. Our small canoe, however, met with heavier waves than we had expected, which ia the darkness we could not avoid. Paddling and baling in the gloom,, we were thankful to reach the Pomeroon ia safety, though wet with the sea-water, and waited shivering tiU daylight enabled us to ascend the Wakapoa. Accidents frequently occur on the sea at that place. A few months later, a canoe much larger than ours was swamped, and a settler named Stoll, and several Indians, were drowned, while attempting to cross it during the night. The entrance to the Wakapoa is very narrow, but after proceeding a few miles, through many impedi- ments from trees, which have fallen from the banks into the stream, and remain fixed by their branches to the bottom, we at length reached a scene of great beauty, having an extensive prospect across a savannah. Through this flows a deep stream, which, overflowing its banks during many months of the year, forms a beautiful lake, adorned with clumps of the ita palm, and several islands. A similar stream enters it from a savannah on the right hand, called Koraia. Having ascended the Wakapoa, we went direct to the habitation of the chief of the district, an infirm WAKAPOA LAKE. 153 old Araw^k named Sabaiko. After such remarks as my limited acquaintance with their language enabled me to make (the old man understanding only a word or two of English), Cornelius addressed him. He was the most eloquent speaker I have known among the Indians; and we listened with silence and plea- sure to his words. The old man seemed moved, and promised to teU his people when they returned, most of them being absent. We left him, after prayer, according to our custom, and returned to our stations. Our visit to Wakapoa having apparently pro- duced no good eflfect, we repeated it after some weeks, but with similar results. On this occasion the old chief's wife made her appearance with what seemed at a distance to be a singular head-dress ; but proved to be a young baboon or red monkey, which she carried in this manner, its feet being placed on her shoulders, and its grinning visage resting on its fore- paws upon her forehead. The Indian women take great care of various young animals, even suckling them as if they were their children. This disgusting practice is not confined to any one tribe, nor indeed to the Indian females alone. We visited this district many times, but with little good effect. Most of the young men of the different settlements had been engaged to accompany the military expedition to Pirara, and returned much worse disposed than they were before. Some families were there who had lived on the Demerara, and were remarkable for drunkenness. 154 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. On one occasion I visited the Wakapoa alone, Mr. Smithett being prevented from going by indisposition. On arriving there, I found that the people had al gone to the Koraia, where there was a great Maqnarri dance. We arrived at the place of festivity in the afternoon, being guided by the shouts of the people there assembled. The scene surpassed aU that I had previously heard or seen of Indian life. The young men and boys, fantastically adorned, were ranged in two parallel rows, facing each other, each holding in his right hand the Maquarri from which the dance takes its name. The Maquarri is a whip, more than three feet long, and capable of giving a severe cut, as their bleeding legs amply testified. They waved those whips in their hands as they danced, uttering alternate cries, which resembled the note of a certain bird often heard in the forests. At some little distance from the dancers were couples of men lashing each other on the leg. The man whose turn it was to receive the lash stood firmly on one leg, advancing the other ; while his adversary, stooping, took deliberate aim, and, springing from the earth to add vigour to his stroke, gave his opponent a severe cut. The latter gave no other sign that he was hurt than by a con- temptuous smile, though blood might have been drawn by the lash, which, after a short dance, was returned with equal force. Nothing could exceed the good humour with which those proceedings were carried on. Every man, unless aged or infirm, is expected to engage in the contest. One of them was WAKAFOA LAKE. 155 scarcely able to walk from the punisliment he had received; but in general, after a few lashes, they drank paiwari together, and returned to the main body of the dancers, from which fresh couples were continually falling out to test each others' mettle. The old chief, Sabaiko, met and saluted me in a friendly manner; and then seated himself in the house to view the proceedings of his people. He was dressed for the occasion in European clothing, had sus- pended round his neck the sUver plate which marked his chieftainship, and bore his silver-headed staff in his hand. Some of his people wore shirts, &c. which contrasted in a singular manner with the ornaments of their native costume: I am sorry to add that most of them were in different stages of intoxication. Some time before the whip dance ended, a sturdy little Warau, in an evil hour for his legs, arrived from a neighbouring settlement. The young Araw4ks thought, and probably with justice, that he had pur- posely delayed his coming until the close of the proceedings, in the hope of avoiding the lash while getting a share of the liquor. They therefore quietly passed the word among themselves to keep him em- ployed, by challenging in succession ; and the grim joke was carried into effect. In a corner of the ground near me the poor fellow was kept engaged with fresh antagonists, giving and receiving the cuts of the Maquarri. He bore it with unflinching fortitude, though, as he at last perceived their design, there became an evident difference between his demeanour and theirs ; especially in the nature of' the grins with 156 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. which the lash was welcomed, and the capers which preceded and followed it. They let him off at last, but his small share of paiwari had been very dearly earned. The dance was given in honour of a deceased female, who had been buried in the house. A broad plank lay on her grave, and on it were placed two bundles, containing the refuse of the silk grass of which the whips were made, which had been carefully preserved ; — there were also two pieces of wood, rudely carved to resemble birds, and two others which were intended to represent infants. At a signal from the master of the house the dancing ceased; and aU the men, arranging themselves in procession, went round the house with slow and measured steps, the plank and wooden images being carried before them. After this they arranged themselves near the grave, and one of them chanted something in a low voice, to which the others answered at intervals with four moans, by way of chorus. The articles carried in procession were then taken to a hole previously dug in the earth, and buried there. Two or three men appointed for the purpose then drew forth their long knives, and, rushing in among the dancers, snatched the whips from them, cut off the lash from each, and buried them with the other articles. It seemed to be a point of etiquette not to resign the whips without a struggle, and, while the one party were snatching and cutting, the others were leaping and throwing somersaults to avoid them, and it was surprising that none of them received any injury amid the confusion. WAKAPOA LAKE. 157 After an interval of rest, twelve of the young men came forward to engage in another kind of dance, called Owiarri. These performers carried rods about twelve feet in length, on the top of which were fixed small gourds with stones in them, and decorated with streamers of silk grass, painted red. They ranged themselves in parallel rows as before, facing each other : and danced backwards and forwards, striking the lower ends of their rods upon the earth, and keeping time with the . clash. Some young women went up to these dancers from time to time, and taking them by the arm danced with them ; then at a signal given by their partners, who shook the coverings of beetles' wings and other ornaments with which their legs were adorned, they ran ofi" to their companions like frightened deer. Two canoes fuU of paiwari had been made for the occasion, and as these were now exhausted the spirits of the company began to flag. I slept at the house of a young Indian named Hubbard, at some little dis- tance from the scene of the revels. The noise of the drunken orgies by degrees died away, the moon rose in aU the soft beauty of a tropical night, and the stiUness which pervaded all nature formed a striking contrast to the noise and turbulence which had marked the day. The next day, the visitors from the Wakapoa arose early and went to their canoes, to avoid meeting me. On sending a request for them to return, they replied " that if I wished to speak with them I must go to them." On hastening to the water-side, I found about 158 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. fifty people present, who were all seated in their canoes about to start ; and when I spoke to them they listened in gloomy silence, and without tumiag their heads towards me. Sabaiko then said, " I have no power over my people ; myself and a few will hear, but most of them are unwilling." Eeturning to the scene of the preceding day's festivity I found that headaches and sore legs were abundant, and received many applications for re- medies. Under the influence of present feelings, some of them said that their dances were very bad, and that they would forsake them, and put themselves under Mr. Smithett's instructions ; — good resolutions, which with most abated as their headaches went off and their legs became well. The Maquarri dances had often been mentioned to me, but, as our own people had discontinued them, -I had given up all expectation of witnessing one. I was particularly surprised at their indifference to pain, which they said was owing in a great measure to the paiwari and the presence of the women, who sit by as spectators of their powers of endurance. This entertp-inment had been given by one of the men iu honour of his sister, who had been dead many months ; her husband was present, and I was told that, after the dance, his connexion with her family would entirely cease. Some have supposed that those dances were connected with the giving in marriage of some young female, and that contep^ing rivals settled their claims with the Maquarri ; but this I am unable to decide, though it is not exclusively a funeral game. WAKAPOA LAKE. 159 With respect to the images I could learn nothing : they were ceremonies derived from their ancestors, but they seemed to have lost their original mean- ing.i During the year 1842 and the early part of 1843, Mr. Smithett and myself repeatedly visited the Wakapoa and Koraia. On one occasion, being unable to discover the path leading to their settlements, we attempted to cross the swamp, and found our- selves in an unpleasant position : the crust of the quagmire, which was hardened by the sun, being ia most places strong enough to bear our weight, but in some parts very thin, and giving way beneath our feet. We at length sunk deep at every step, and I received a wound in the sole of my foot, by a splinter from a tree which was imbedded beneath the surface. This confined me to my hammock for two days. Mr. Smithett got safely across, though he sunk in the mud very deeply at one spot. On our return the Indians made a path for us across the swamp by a layer of the large trooly-leaves, which was perfectly safe. ' I have not seen among other tribes anything similar to the Maquarri, the institution of which seems to bear a faint resemblance to the funeral games of classic antiquity. It is also the nearest approach, observable among the Indians, to the friendly contests practised in Europe during the ages of chivalry. Though suffi- ciently barbarous, it is by no means to be compared to our own brutal piize-fights, or to pugilistic contests in general. And it would be a great benefit to the obstinate duellists of Europe and America, and especially to the'" unfortunate families, were the Maquarri to supersede among them the use of sword and pistol, lifle and bowie-knife. 160 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. In returning, we saw a young alligator asleep on the surface of tlie water, which one of our' Indians struck with a paddle, and placed in the hinder part of the canoe, thinking it to be dead. It soon revived, and, as it began to move, .the two lads who were sitting on the seat just over it, nearly overturned us in their hurry to escape. Having its head towards the pointed stem, it began to move up towards the steersman, who hastily threw a foot over each side of the canoe, and was preparing to slip backward into the stream, when the alligator, instinctively perceiving that by ascending it would not find water, turned round, and began to run forwards. Its skull was then fractured by a blow from the blade of a paddle, which prevented the reptile doing further mischief. On another occasion, while descending the narrow gorge or outlet of the Wakapoa, we were carried by the velocity of the current upon one of those dangerous stumps (called snags on the rivers of the United States), which brought us up with great violence ; and the canoe, after quivering for a few seconds, fell broadside into the water. She provi- dentially righted, but was half full, and we were in a state of great anxiety lest the bottom should have been pierced : that, however, was not the case, or the consequences, in that obstructed rapid, might have been fatal to us. Mr. Smithett, who was most indefatigable in his labours, succeeded, during a visit of nine days, in inducing about thirty Indians to commence attend- ance at Caledonia : and there was at length every WAKAPOA LAKE. 161 prospect of success following much disappointment, among tlie Araw4ks of the Wakapoa. In the Manawarin, among the Caribs, the prospect was even more cheering. The old chief, John Wanyawai, had indeed, to our regret, died of small- pox with many of his family and people. But one of. his sons, named Peter, ^had recovered from the disease^ jjld -gH^GSedg^to his father's oflace. His .&st act was to assemble all the Caribs in the neigh- bourhood ; who, at the suggestion of Mr. M'Clintock, the Post-holder, constructed a large shed on a hill called Wasiba ; to be used .ag a place of worship when the missionaries might visit their river. This buddiag was used for that purpbS&" more than once, both by Mr. Smithett and myself; and was. known among the Indians by the name of " Captain Peter's Church." More than one hundred Caribs sometimes assembled there. The great drawback to the formation of an Indian station at Hackney, Caledonia, or the neighbouring estates, was the annoyance experienced from the mosquitoes, for which that district is notorious ; and which are numerous and tormenting to a degree which, without experience, can scarcely be compre- hended. The negroes and others fill their houses with smoke in the evenings, to drive them out ; a remedy almost as bad as the evil which it is de- signed to counteract. The Indians avoid fixing their habitations in the neighbourhood of the sea, where those insects are most abundant.^ ^ The evenings and nights of Guiana are generally very pleasant M 162 TEE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. Notwithstanding this, the Araw^ks from the Wakapoa, and occasionally a few Caribs from Mana- warin, endured this annoyance for one or two nights in the week, taking shelter among the negroes, or in any shed which they could find vacant. on the higher land, remote^ from the coast. There, as a friendly visitor heneath the humble rooTof &ejn dian, you can , after a hot and fatiguing voyage, peacefully recline in your hanmi6c!ii».^°y the cool night air, and watch the bright moon or stars ; while tBft^ goat-sucker, flitting from stump to stump of the field or clearing, will amuse you with his cry, which strangely resembles the human voice. One of those weird birds in a shrill inquiring tone asks, " Who are you 1 " which question wiU be repeated by a secoM (and perhaps a third) at some distance. Other kinds will per- emptorily request you to " Work, work, work away !" or to "Whip poor Will ! " If the night air be too cold, your kind host wiU place more wood on the fire, and make you comfortable • by a cheerful blaze. In those Indian dwellings you are seldom annoyed by mosquitoes or the stiU more terrible sand-flies. But alas for him who, unshel- tered, has to spend the night among the insects and reptiles of the marshy lands near the coast ! Soon will the old complaint be his — " Mali culices ranseque palustres Avertunt somnos." With face swollen and smarting, eyes bleared with smoke, limbs unrefreshed, and temper most unpleasantly tried, the traveller, as soon as the tide will allow, takes down his hammock and hastens his departure. CHAPTER X. THE WARAUS OR GUARANOS. Cabacaburi — Opposition among the Caribs — The Waraus — Unsuc- cessful Voyages and Journeys — Great and sudden Change — Efforts of the Post-holder and the Indians. About one mile from the Indian station which we had formed on the Pomeroon is the first hill met with on the banks of the river. From the side of that hUl there rises a giant silk-cotton tree, towering high above the sm^rounding forest and attracting»,the eye of every passer-by. High up amidst its overhanging foliage are seen the pendent nests of the mocking- birds : and parasites of various kinds cover its branches and entwine its trunk. The Indian name of the hill is Cabacaburi. In the olden time it belonged to the Arawiks, and had since been occu- pied by settlers as a woodcutting establishment. It was abandoned in 1843. Dr. Austin, then newly consecrated as first Bishop of Guiana, in the course of his voyages among the aborigines, visited our Indians, and after admitting their teacher to holy orders, purchased Cabacaburi for their use. The station (with the exception of the chapel) was soon after removed thither. M 2 164 THE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. It was not witliout a feeling of regret that the old settlement could be quitted; for, thougli unhealtliy, it liad been endeared by many associations. But for health and comfort the new place of residence was much superior. It soon became a pleasant and picturesque spot. A large village there sprang up, the Caribs erecting one half, and the Araw^ks the other. Among the houses were large clumps of tall and feather-like bamboos; while the cocoa-nut and paripi palms — the bread-nut, mango, orange, lime, guava, and other trees, " pleasant to the sight or good for food" added to the beauty of the settlement by their varied shapes and foUage. The Caribs of the vicinity had joined us ; but those who dwelt near the head of the Pomeroon still held aloof The majority of them knew very little English, and wei^ influenced by one of their number who could speak it very well, but acted in opposition to us. I visited this person, and found him an intel- ligent man, though Uving in the barbarous fashion of his heathen countrymen. He was very civil in his language, but took no pains to conceal his aversion to Christianity. Eising from his stool, he cut short our interview by asking me to go with him, and see a fine " king of the vultures" which he had captured. It was a splendid bird, and of large size. Its head, destitute of feathers, but shaded with delicate tints of pink and orange, and set off with brLUiant pearl- coloured eyes, seemed, with the ruff round its neck and other plumage, to call forth the admiration of my Carib host. But we were both obliged to keep ^y *iv TEB WABAUS OR QUABANOS. 165 to windward, on account of the odour of a number of putrefying fisli given it for food, over wMch, tliougli they were not yet in a sufficiently advanced stage of decomposition, the feathered epicure was beginning to spread and flap his wings, anticipating the future banquet. The object of my visits to this district was totally defeated for the time by the influence of this man and others of the Caribi leaders. The state of the Waratjs in the remoter districts then became a subject of reflection and solicitude. They had always ranked lowest among the coast tribes of Guiana; and not one hopefal sign had as yet appeared among them. In person the Waraus are short, stoutly built, and capable of great exertion ; but they are generally very careless of their personal appearance, and their filthi- ness is proverbial. They care so little for clothing, that even their females frequently content themselves with a small piece of the bark of a tree, or the net-like coveriag of the young leaf of the cocoa-nut or cabbage-palm ; and their appearance is squalid and disagreeable. Many of the young persons of this tribe possess very good features, which I have once or twice seen disfigured by a thin piece of silver, suspended from the cartilage of the nostrils, and covering the upper lip. As they so seldom cover their bodies, their skins are darker than those of the other tribes. It has been said that it is difficult at times to distinguish the Warau from the negro ; but this is incorrect : from 166 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. continual exposure and want of cleanliness their sMns are somewhat darker than those of other Indians, but that is aU. Though careless to the last degree, and averse to continuous employment, no Indians are so much sought after as labourers. When they can be induced to begin, they wiU do more work than others, and are satisfied with less wages if rum be given liberally. They inhabit the swampy district so often men- tioned, and, being near the sea, are excellent fisher- men, and subsist much upon the productions of the waters. They cultivate cassava and other vegetables, but do not pay sufficient attention to agriculture, and in times of scarcity betake themselves to the ita palms, which abound in the swamps. This tree is of the greatest service to them. They are fond of its fruit, and at certain seasons make of its pith a substitute for bread, while its trunk is sometimes split and used in flooring their dwellings, and its leaf supplies the fibrous material of which, among other useful things, they make strong and serviceable hammocks, which form an important article in their little traffic. They are also noted for making canoes, with which they supply the whole colony, the Araw4ks sometimes undertaking long voyages to their remote settlements, and bringing the canoes, to be again sold to the settlers, or disposed of among themselves. The canoe, or "woibaka," as it is called by the Waraus, is most excellently adapted to the wants of the Indians, though shaped and hollowed with rude THE WARAUS OB GUARANOS. 167 implements and without any assistance from the rules of art. Some of them used by the Spaniards are said to have been known to carry one hundred men and a three-pounder ;^ but the largest I have seen could not have carried more than fifty persons. Were the Waraus more careful of their gains, and more prompt to avail themselves of advantages, no tribe in Guiana could be in more respectable circum- stances ; but they have not yet learned to make the slightest provision beyond what absolute necessity requires. If successful in hunting, a scene of ex- cessive gluttony follows, until the game is consumed, and returning hunger forces them to exertion. If unsuccessful, they are capable of enduriag great privation. They can also paddle a canoe with greater vigour and for a longer time than the other Indians. Such are the Waraus ; strong and hardy in person, but slovenly and dirty ; merry and cheerful in disposition, but careless and improvident. They, were utterly ignorant, and consequently very superstitious, their sorcerers being considered to pos- sess greater power over the evU spirits than those of any other tribe. After repeated efi"orts during two years among the Waraus of Manawarin, finding no change in their disposition, I resolved to try another field of labour, and began to visit a small river in the vicinity, called Haimara-Cabura. Little satisfaction attended the first visit, as the people at the settlement where we took 1 M. Martin, p. 50. 168 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. up our quarters were at no pains to conceal their indifference or dislike. A fine young fellow had a kind of javelin, the shaft of which was made of a strong reed, in one end of which was inserted a piece of hard wood, formuig the point. He continued to hurl this at a mark on the soft stem of a plantain- tree, which was pierced through; the pointed wood remaining firmly fixed in the tree while the elastic staff flew back towards the man who had cast it. He told me that it was used in striking the morocote and other large fish : fruit or seeds which they are fond of being scattered on the stUl water, while the Indian watches their rising and kills them with an arrow or this kind of dart. These people paid little or no attention to our evening worship, — did not wish to be taught, — and seemed thoroughly ill-tempered. After we had retired to rest, a child happening to cry, one of the women arose from her hammock, and taking a large piece of firewood, struck it violently several times as it lay, and then suddenly caught it up, ran to the bush, and hurled it from her. It fell on the ground, appa-- rently much hurt. I had not witnessed such brutality among the other tribes ; but concluded that they were all out of temper because I had brought no rum to give them, for which they were very importunate. The next morning they demanded money for the shelter they had afforded myself and party, — a thing I had never heard of among the Indians of Guiana. They were thoroughly wedded to their superstitions, and practised them without reserve. On one occasion TEE WABAUS OB GUABANOS. 169 we passed an old man fishing in a canoe on tlie Manawarin. The clouds threatened rain, and when he perceived it, he began to use extraordinary ges- ticulations, flourishing his arms, and shouting his in- cantations to drive it away. It soon cleared up, and the old sorcerer rejoiced at his success, as he deemed it. In the course of another voyage, we passed a Warau similarly engaged in fishing, and apparently so intent upon his pursuit that he could neither observe us pass- ing nor answer our salutation. When we had got a little distance from him, he inquired of the Araw4k who was steering our canoe, whether I had many of the "hebo," or evil spirits, attending me. The answer, " They are entirely wanting," was accompanied by a loud laugh from my crew. It appeared that the Waraus in their ignorance regarded a missionary as a powerful enchanter, and the change in the other tribes as the effect of magic. These discouragements continued up to the close of 1844. But at that time, and while their case appeared to me as utterly hopeless, some of those people commenced attending the station on the Lower Pomeroon. An account of this was speedily sent to me by Mr. Campbell, who had succeeded Mr. Smithett as teacher there : and it seemed expedient to visit them without delay. Accordingly, I set out oh the 15th of December for the Haimara-Cabura ; resting the second night at an Araw^k settlement in the Koraia, the scene of the Maquarri dance. The weather was tempestuous, the rainy season having set 170 TBE INDIAN TRIBES OF QUI AN A. in with violence, and we took this route to avoid the necessity of crossing. the sea, as there is a passage called the Itabbo leading to the Manawarin through the forests, which is only navigable when the whole country is inundated. On the morning of the 18th we set out from the settlement in the Koraia, across the savannah, then covered with water. The reeds and grass appearing above the surface caused it to re- semble at a little distance a pleasant lawn ; while the islets and the main land were finely wooded, and an ita-tree here and there stood in sohtary beauty in the midst of the savannah. A double rainbow appeared as we started, whose bright colours contrasted vividly with the dark clouds as it spanned our intended course. We proceeded through the Itabbo, meeting with much difficulty, owing to the fallen trees which obstructed the channel. I had formerly travelled that way with Mr. Smithett, but the impediments had much increased in number since that time. We arrived at the settlement in Haimara-Cabura, and the intelligence soon spread through the neigh- bourhood. The Waraus began to assemble. I was not sorry, for there were but two men at the place, — an old and a yoimg one ; the former very savage and crabbed in his manner. Endeavours to soothe him, by praising the beauty of the skin of an ocelot, which he had made into a cap, and wore with the tail appending behind, were all in vain ; he turned a deaf ear to everything spoken, whether pleasant or serious. The young fellow was also very annoying, and ridiculously insolent, for placing himself imme- THE WABAUS OB GUABANOS. 171 diately in front he continued to dance {at me as it seemed) the ungraceful, staggering dance of his nation at intervals during the whole day. When their chief, named Damon, arrived, he told me that the old man was a great sorcerer, which explained his moroseness. When I began to speak to the people he seemed much excited ; and when he saw them arrange themselves for evening worship, probably thinking it a proof that the spirits who favoured the Christian religion were more powerful than his own familiars, he paid them the com- pliment of putting on a clean white shirt and joining us. The last party who came were heard about this time a long distance off, shouting with all their might. I met them as they landed from their canoes, and told them that we were about to speak to the great God our Maker and Lord, whom they must approach with reverence. This had the desired effect, and those poor ignorant beings behaved with great reverence during the singing and prayer. I afterwards addressed them in the broken English of which many of them knew a little. They now appeared very anxious to be taught, and I was astonished at the change ; while hoping that it might be the commencement of their ingathering to the Church of God. When night came on, the people whose habita- tions were near departed; the others tied up then- hammocks wherever they could find a place. There was much laughter over their fires, and more talking ; 1 72 TEE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. but all agreed to follow me on my return to Cale- donia, and to continue to attend there until a teacher could be placed among tbem. They fulfilled their promise, and on the Lord's day the place of worship was crowded with Indians, — Arawaks, Waraus, and Caribs. People from every neighbouring creek, some even from Moruca, came without having been invited. This sudden change in the disposition of the Waraus drew the attention of the Post-holder, Mr. M'Clintock, who had always used his influence in inducing the Indians to receive Christian instruction. They were now become too numerous to be accom- modated at Caledonia, where the mosquitoes were also painfully annoying, depriving them of sleep. The sea, which they had to cross, had sometimes swamped the Caribi canoes, which were very small, and only adapted for smooth water and the heads of the rivers. On those occasions both men and women jumped into the sea, and hung by the canoe with one hand till the water could be baled out. Notwithstanding, they complained that they had sometimes lost their hammocks, and got their bread spoiled by the sea-water. A new station thus be- came necessary. Mr. M'Clintock informed me of the existence of a fine hill, or elevated sand-reef, on the banks of the Moruca, near the mouth of Haimara-Cabura ; and he took advantage of the dis- position of the "Waraus to assemble a great number of them, who began to cut down the forest to form a mission -station among themselves. TSE WABAUS OB GVABANOS. 1/3 While he was thus engaged, I went to George- town, and brought the matter before the Demerara and Esseqaibo branch of the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel. The application was imme- diately received, and a sum of money voted to commence with, but there was no missionary whose services were available. When this was made appa- rent, and the question, " Whom shall we send V proposed by Archdeacon Lugar, Mr. J. H. Nowers, who was present, rose up, offered himself for the work, and was immediately appoiated to the mission. On my return, I found some hundreds of Indians assembled at the site of the proposed mission-station. They had already cleared a large tract of sand-reef under the superintendence of the Post-holder, who had erected a shed for his accommodation, over which a large flag was waving in the breeze. Some of the Waraus present had come from very remote quarters. They were headed by an old chief named dementia, who drew them up in order, form- ing three sides of a square, to hear what I had to say. The old chief bore his silver-headed staff in his hand, and had on a once fashionable black coat, with long swallow tails and very high collar, but no other garment, except his scanty Indian cloth. His people were even wilder and more grotesque than himself. The message with which I was charged was explained to the Waraus by Stoll, Mr. M'Clintock's interpreter, and great was their joy to hear that a "resident missionary was about to be placed among them. 174 TSE INDIAN TRIBES OP GUIANA. The work then proceeded with great rapidity. In every direction were heard the crash of falling trees, and the shouts of the Waraus. The posts and timber for the erection of the chapel and mission- house were soon cut, and a settler employed to erect the latter. None of the Indians received wages. They pro- vided their own cassava bread, and a few casks of salt fish furnished them with rations. A puncheon of molasses was also sent for their use by Mr. Hughes, manager of Plantation Anna Eegina, who had heard of their exertions. Sixty men went to that estate, after the clearing was over, to work for clothing. How different were the prospects in March 1845, as it regarded the spread of the Gospel of Christ among them, to those presented six months before! Those events were surprising at the time to those who witnessed them. To myself especially, who during many fruitless expeditions had seen so many proofs of their unwillingness, the present change seemed the work of God. Nor was this feeling lessened at beholding the manner in which the altered disposition of the Waraus was met by the exertions of the Post-holder, and the appointment of a missionary, between whom and myself there existed the bond of former friendship, and a recent family tie. Of the promising appearance of all the Indian Missions in the colony, the Hon. H. C. F. Young, then Government Secretary, publicly stated that it THE WABAUS OR GUABANOS. 175 miglit (at that time) have been said, " almost with- out a figure of speech :" — "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." IfoTE. — Though a few scattered hordes of Waraus (to be noticed hereafter) are found in other parts of our proYince, especially on its eastern boundary, yet the region mentioned above, which extends in a north-westerly direction from the Pomeroon to (and beyond) the Orinoco, must be considered as the proper territory of their nation. It is in the delta of the latter river, and the low country which borders its mouth, that their rude and peculiar way of life is seen ia its perfection. There, the lands being completely inundated by the overflowing river for some months in each year, the "Warau is forced to con- struct his dwelling above the flood, and among the trees from which a large portion of his food is derived. He uses, where pos- sible, their upright trunks as posts ; — thatches the roof beneath their leafy crowns ; — fixes the lower beams a few feet above the highest level of the water, and lays thereon the split ita trunks for flooring. On the latter the hearth and fire are placed and culinary operations performed ; while from the upper beams the hammocks of his family are suspended. The ever-ready woibaha, or canoe, gives them the means of locomotion for fishing and other purposes, until the flood has subsided and terra fir ma again appears. CHAPTER XL WAEAMTJRI. Conversation mth an old Warau — ^Erection of tlie Mission Build- ings — Sickness of Missionaries — ^Extraordinary Imposture — Long Drought — "Waramuri Mission nearly destroyed by Fire — Famine — ^Mortality by Dysentery — Progress of the Mission — Distant Indians desire a Teacher. The name of the hill wHch. the Indians had so speedily cleared of the venerable forest that had covered it for ages is Waramuri. This is the name of a species of black ant with which the spot abounded. It is situated near the junction of the Haimara-Cabura with the Moruca, and is about sixty mUes (traveUiag by water) from the Upper Mission in Pomeroon. About a month after the circumstances recorded in the last chapter, I found the clearing completed, and the frame of the mission-house erected. All the people were gone, except the interpreter, and an old wild-looking Warau, named John, and his family, who were awaiting the arrival of the new missionary. As this was delayed for some days, a good opportunity was afforded of examining the situation. WARAMUBI. 177 A ridge of sand gradually ascends from the mouth of the Haimara-Cabura to a considerable height, and terminates abruptly in a tumulus resembling an ancient barrow. One side of this mound is precipi- tous, the other connected with the sand reef. It seemed chiefly composed of small shells, resembling those of periwinkles, and marked with alternate stripes of white and black. These were so abundant that the mould when taken up in a shovel appeared full of them. Between this hiU and the Moruca there is a swamp, about a quarter of a mile in width. Both the swamp and the high land were then completely covered with the newly feUed trees. From tiie top of the hiU. we could look down upon the forest, and trace the course of the Moruca and two tributary streams ; the trees on their banks being higher than those in the other parts of the forest. Being desirous of knowing what the Waraus thought of the sand reef and the heap of shells on which we stood, I inquired of the old man through the inter- preter. He at once said, that when the world was made that ridge was the sea-coast. A conversation then arose respecting the creation of mankind. The old man said that " three different races were made by God,— white, red, and black. Each of those races was intended to live as we then saw them." The religion of our Lord, he said, was doubtless " good for white men, as they professed it, but not for the red men, or they would have followed it from the beginning." It soon appeared that his principal objection to Christianity firose from the fact that he had two 178 THE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. wives, and had already discovered that Christians were only allowed to have one. He spoke with great animation on this point. "I really cannot put away my young wife," said he; "and as for the old one, I certainly will not dismiss her; for she grew up with me, and is the mother of most of my children." When told that God had appointed but one wife for each man, he seemed to think it very hard. On being asked why a man should have two wives, and a woman not be allowed two husbands, he directly said that his tribe did not con- sider either practice to be bad ; and that he knew a Warau woman who had three. Our further con- versation showed the utter grossness of their minds, and that my brother would have no easy task before him. When Mr. Nowers arrived, his exertions were so *well seconded by the Indians that the erection of the buildings advanced rapidly. They were built of rotigh timber, and thatched with trooly leaves. As the Moruca and its tributary streams are destitute of this tree, every leaf had to be fetched from the Pomeroon in their small canoes, each trip occupying at least three days. The labour thus be- stowed was only remunerated by a small allowance of salt fish and molasses. As no sailing-vessel can enter the Moruca, the boards for the buUdings were brought by the Indians in the same manner from its mouth, a few at a time. The Waraus and Manawarin Caribs did most of this laborious work; the Araw4ks in the vicinity of the mission thatched WABAMUm. 179 the sides and roofs of the buildings, and the car- penter's work was performed by settlers from the Pomeroon. The sum granted by the Demerara and Essequibo District Society was about l70l. sterling, and the labour of the Indians would have cost an equal sum had it been necessary to pay them. As soon as the house was habitable, Mr. Nowers brought his family to the mission. An accident happened while they were passing up the Moruca, which might have been attended with fatal conse- quences. The mouth of this stream forms a rapid duriag the rainy season, from its extreme narrowness and the immense quantity of water which there finds its outlet. Wild mangroves overhang it, whose roots and branches, somewhat resembling those of the banian-tree in the East, descend into the Water. While the crew of the large canoe which contained the family were vainly striving to overcome the opposing current, two Indian boys from the Pome- roon Mission, who were in a small canoe loaded with plantains, got entangled among the mangroves ; their frail craft turned broadside to the current, and was driven violently against a mass of spread- ing roots. One of them, an Araw4k, was com- pletely hoisted out by a branch, and hung suspended, clinging to it for some little time ; then, without losing his presence of mind, he swung himself several feet over the whirling and dashing water into the nearly-overturned canoe. It was a moment of great anxiety to us, as we were quite unable to approach them. But providentially the canoe N 2 180 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. was not swamped, thougli very small ; the impeding roots and branches gave way, and they slipped through them, and shot down the stream with us to await the moment of high water. They were neither of them twelve years old, and, though ex- cellent swimmers, must have been carried under the roots of the trees and drowned had they fallen into the stream. A little after dark we reached Waramuri, and as the sound of the paddles was heard by the people on the lull, a great number of lights were seen advancing to meet us ; and on landing, the hearty greeting of about one hundred Caribi men and women was almost overwhelming. All were press- ing to shake hands, and to carry some httle article from the canoe to the house. It was a grateful spectacle, and very cheering to the new comers. I was soon after compelled to leave my station for a time by the effects of a severe fever, and Mr. Nowers had a very serious iHness while visiting Georgetown for the purpose of being admitted into holy orders, his wife being dangerously ill at the same time. About this time a remarkable imposture was practised upon the Indians in that part of Guiana. A person pretending to be the Lord went into the interior with some deluded followers, and estabHshed himself in the upper part of the Masaruni. From this distant spot, he sent emissaries into the neighbourhood of aU the missions, calling on the Indians to quit their homes and proAdsion-grounds, and go to him. They WABAMUBI. 181 were told that they should possess lands which would jdeld a large crop of cassava from a single stick, and various other absurdities, very alluring to the indolent Indian. Those tales, joined to threats of horrible destruction which should come upon all who refused to go, had their influence upon the minds of many, and lured them away. The movement commenced with the Acawoios near the Essequibo, who had been observed to be providing themselves with fire-arms for some time before they set out. They were anxious to get the Caribs to join them, and hundreds of Indians of diflFerent tribes went from all parts of the country to " see God," as they termed it, some of whom perished by sickness on the way, and others found themselves in a state of destitution on arriving at the spot. Intelligence of this singular movement was con- veyed to the Bishop of Guiana, whose invalid guest I was at that time. Having learned the particulars, I hastened to the mission, though stiU very weak; and Mr. Nowers followed with his family as soon as he was able to travel. We found that not one baptized person, and only one catechumen, had been enticed away ; but those who had kept aloof from Christian instruction had fallen readily into the deceitful snare. In the more remote districts some settlements were completely deserted. The inhabitants of others had been part of the way, and then returned, famished and. ashamed. In the upper part of the Pomeroon I found that the course of the river was obstructed 182 THB INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. by two trees of great heigit, wMcli had been cut from the banks to afford then: families the means of crossing in their hasty march. StUl the number of Caribs who went was but small compared with that of the Acawoios, who left their settlements on the Barima and Barahma for a long time. Kobise, the Caribi catechumen, who had been deluded away, soon returned to Waramuri, and thus detailed the particulars of his journey : — " We travelled as fast as we could for thirteen days, and at length arrived at a savannah where some hundreds of Acawoios and others were assembled. They had as yet scarcely any field provisions, and game was scarce from the midtitude of hunters. T was Jed to a little enclosed hut, from which I heard a voice commanding me to return, and fetch my friends and neighbours, as a great fire and water would come upon the whole world except that spot." He said also that the impostor did not make himself visible, but remained concealed from aU, as far as he could learn, delivering his predictions by night; and that his voice sounded hke that of a white person. He also added, that on looking around him he could see nothing but drinking and dancing, a portion of the little cassava bread which they could obtain being made into paiwari; and from this he became apprehensive that it was a delusion of the Yurokon, or evil spirit, and made his escape from them the same night, and returned. This strange story, the leading facts of which have been well authenticated by other evidence, is WAKAMURI. 183 a remarkable illustration of Matt. xxiv. 26 (a text "wMch struck the Indians greatly when it was ex- plained to them on that occasion), inasmuch as the impostor was both " in a secret chamber" and in " the desert." It showed us the necessity of using every effort to spread among those simple people the knowledge which alone could make them truly wise. At the same time, it proved that the know- ledge of the existence of a Saviour from destruction had even then spread very widely, although to many it was but as a faintly gleaming light, not sufficient to keep them from going into error. A long period of drought ensued. The rainy season, which is expected to commence in Novem- ber, was confined to a few partial showers ; and the earth was parched, and vegetation dried up by the long period of heat, which lasted from August, 1845, imtil the following May. During the height of that drought, Waramuri Mission was in danger of being destroyed by fire. The swamp iu front of it has been already described. It was then covered with dry vegetation, and the trees which had been cut down a year before. A Caribi Indian, named Plata, incautiously set fire to the dry grass, and the flames soon began to rise, and spread with rapidity, covering a space a quarter of a mile in extent, and advancing towards, the mission. As soon as the alarm was given, Mr. Nowers and the Indians present ran to clear away the dried grass and brushwood which covered the slope, that the fire might have nothing to feed upon. It reached 184 TJSE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. the foot of tLe hill, and as it began to climb in any place, it was beaten down witb long poles. The heat was suffocating, and both the missionary and Indians were blackened by the smoke : but after a severe struggle with the devouring element, by God's blessing on their exertions, the buHdings and their families were saved. At four P. M. the fire rushed over the hill about thirty feet from the chapel, and passed on in a broad sheet of flame, devouring everything in its progress. Mr. Nowers requiring medical assistance for his family, I took charge of Waramuri for six. weeks after this. The broad track of the conflagration was perfectly black. The fire continued burning in many places for weeks, feeding upon the peat, of which the soil is partly composed, and upon the enormous trunks of trees which lay in every direction. Some of those burniog masses looked perfectly white during the glare of the sun by day, and glowed with intense brightness as night came on. The swamps were on fire in various directions. One evening six conflagrations were visible in dif- ferent parts of the horizon. The nearest of these communicated with a portion of the forest, the flames catching the dry leaves, and mounting the trees in succession until their further progress was stopped by the river. Charred skeletons of small animals and reptiles might be seen among the ashes, the remains of snakes being especially numerous. While proceeding one day up the river, a crackling noise was heard at a distance, accompanied by a WAEAMUm. 185 dense smoke. The Indians said that a savannah which we were approaching was on fire, and imme- diately rested on their paddles. We soon saw the flames driving before the wind, and devouring the reeds and grass, while our further progress was pre- vented by the burning flakes and smoke, until the fire had burnt down to the edge of the stream. We had to keep our faces close to the water, to escape the sufibcating vapour. The drought was severely felt in the cultivated part of the country, the navigable trenches of the sugar estates being nearly dry. The rivers, from the want of rain, had become salt and brackish to a great distance from their mouths. The heads of the little streamlets were sought for fresh water, and some of them became dry. The cassava which had been planted by the Indians in October, not having the expected rain to nourish it, did not grow. Hence food became scarce, and many expedients were re- sorted to to supply the deficiency. The Waraus betook themselves to their favourite resource, the ita swamps ; and subsisted there as well as they could. When . the famine was at its height, the fruit of the wUd cashew became ripe, and afterwards that of the simiri, or locust tree. From these and others the Indians managed to procure a scanty subsistence, and might be seen emerging from the forest with their quakes or baskets full of them. Unwholesome food ! for using which they afterwards suffered greatly. The rain fell at length in torrents, and vegetation revived and flourished. But dysentery began to 186 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. carry off many of the Waraus and others, who had been subsisting for months on the natural productions of the swamps and forests. There came from the ita-swamps to Waramuri canoes full of miserably attenuated beings, who applied to the missionary for medicine and food. A great number of them died before they made this application. It was painful to visit their settlements, and hear the repeated exclamation, "Wabaiya, wabaiya ! " {Sich, sick !) On visiting the settlement where they been so uncivil to me, Mr. Nowers discovered that eight had already died out of twenty- three, and others would probably have perished but for God's blessing on the remedies supplied. As many as 300 doses of medicine were administered in one month, and with great apparent benefit, the reluctance of the Indians to use it being overcome by the urgent danger. It was a period of much distress and misery, and were there no other result than the temporal benefit that then flowed from the mission at Waramuri, all the exertion and the small expense of its establishment would have been amply rewarded. When the sickness abated, the mission began to assume a most flourishing appearance. Three hundred Indians attended instruction, and there were sixty- five children at school. As the benefits, both spiritual and temporal, of missions became apparent to the people, so the desire for similar establishments began to spread. Intelli- gence was brought to us that the Waraus in the Aruka were desirous of having a missionary of our Church WABAMUBI. 187 placed among them, and that their chief had even caused them to erect a large building to serve as a place of worship. We were preparing to visit that part of the country, though the distance is so great that the voyage would occupy about three weeks in going and returning. It is situated in the midst of the tract which lies between our territory and the Orinoco, and through which flow several large streams, one of the principal being the Waini. Our visit was unavoidably prevented, and nothing was done. StUl the desire of those benighted people to be instructed in the religion of Christ seems worthy of commemoration, as no missionary had been to visit them, and the reports conveyed by their own countrymen were all they had to foimd their desires upon. It seemed like the fulfilment of the words of prophecy : — " As soon as they hear of Me, they shall obey Me." CHAPTER XII. TRIALS. Causes which led to the first Abandonment of Waramuii — Danger- ous Passage across the Sea — Narrow Escape from Death hy an Arrow — Panic among the Caribs at the Pomeroon Station — Its Abandonment. Waramtjei had been threatened with destruction by fire, and the Indians who attended it had been scat- tered by famine, and had their numbers thinned by dysentery. StiU, notwithstanding these things, the number of attendants increased, and the mutual attach- ment between the missionary and his flock grew stronger daily. One Sunday thirty-three canoes fuU of people came, besides those that travelled overland. But the malaria from the cleared swamp had affected the health of the mission family, in which unceasing sickness and prostration prevailed. In August 1846, Mr. Nowers's youngest chUd died. The father, haAdng no materials of which to construct a coffin, was obliged to take the foot-boards of the mission bateau.* WhUe burying this child, the life 1 The bateau is shaped somewhat like an Indian canoe, but buUt, instead of being hoUowed from a single tree. Like the canoe, it has no keel. TRIALS. 189 of his second son was despaired of. This was followed by a violent illness, which attacked both parents, and compelled their removal to the Pomeroon, where the family remained in a languishing state till the end of the year. Mr. Nowers partially recovered ; but his complaint rendered him unable to bear the climate, and, as the health of his family did not improve, he was compelled to resign his mission. After erecting a wooden slab bearing a simple inscription at the head of the grave of the departed infant, and surrounding it with a rail, an affectionate leave was taken of the people, and Waramuri quitted on the 21st of Decem- ber, to the great grief of all. As we were embarking, a young Carib presented himself mth his paddle in his hand, and his hammock over his shoulder, and offered his services as a paddler. On being told that our crew was complete, he still persisted in requesting a passage, which was granted. The weather was unsettled and stormy at that sea- son. In passing over the sea, we encountered three furious squalls, which continued for an hour and a half. We were imable to bring the boat round, as she would have instantly filled if exposed broadside to the waves, which broke over her bows in rapid succession. Our tent was cut away, and Mr. Nowers and an Indian engaged during the whole time in baling out the water with a bucket and a large calabash. The shore was near, but unsafe ; and we were unable from the rain and spray of the sea to see more than a few yards of tossing waves around us. While the steersman was striving to keep her head to the wind, his large paddle 190 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. broke short ; but ve fortunately had a spare one on board, -wliich. was immediately banded to him. When the weather cleared we found that, notwith- standing our crew had strained every nerve, we were still ui the same spot in which the first squall had met us. We were now thankful to God for our additional hand, which had^ enabled us to maintaia the struggle. On reaching the mouth of the Pomeroon we saw a schooner, which had been caught by the same storm, and driven across the mud-flat nearly into the forest, although she had dropped her anchor. The master said he hoped to get ofi" next tide, which happened accordingly. Another schooner belonging to the same person was sunk in her next voyage, all on board being drowned except two hands. In this vessel were lost most of Mr. Nowers's goods, which had been removed from Waramuri. He thus had sorrow upon sorrow ; and continued Hi-health compelled him to depart for England. The Indians, by whom he was greatly beloved, inquired continually whether "Noa" would not soon come again. We must now relate the course of events in the Pomeroon. The Indian women there had, by my marriage some time before, obtained for the first time the valuable services of a teacher of their own sex, whose life was about this time nearly cut short by a sudden danger. Some young Indian men, in an open space at the back of the mission house, were testing their strength by discharging arrows from their powerful bows per- TRIALS. 191 pendicularly into the air. One of their largest arrows (of the kind used for killing the tapir), ascending to a great height, was caught by an upper current of air, and carried over the house, which we were just leaving at the summons to evening prayer. The arrow in its lightning-like descent almost grazed the head of Mrs. Brett, and suddenly arrested her steps, with its feathered end quivering against her shoulder, and its spear-headed iron point buried some inches deep in the earth at her feet. It was a moment of sudden terror, where all had been peace and apparent safety ; for her life (under God) had depended on one inch of space, or one second of time. Our thankfuhiess was fully shared by the Indians around, and equalled by the regret of the young fellows for the carelessness which had so nearly caused a fatal accident. The people of this river suffered less during the famine than the improvident Waraus ; having had a better stock of provisions, and taken care to replant their fields as soon as they saw "the sun kill" the first crop. But depredations were frequently committed by parties who, having been the dupes of the great im- posture, had neglected their own fields, and were now destitute of provisions on their return. A report reached us that two Acawoios had been kUled by Caribs, who had detected them in the act of robbing their fields, in a distant part of the country. This and other circumstances, whether true or not, seemed to threaten a feud. The dysentery had also visited the Indians in Pomeroon, but was chiefly fatal 192 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. when it attacked children, many of whom died, but few adults. In March 1847, an occurrence took place which exhibited a new feature in Indian life. The mission was, as usual, in a state of the greatest tranquillity, when Commodore, the Caribi chief, came thither to reside, with his son and family, for protection. He had built a large house in front of our Caribi village for the accommodation of himself and family on the Sabbath, and planted a tall flag-staff before it as a symbol of his rank ; but during the week he usually lived at his settlement in the forest. The latter he now quitted, as he said, in consequence of having dis- covered that a strong party of Acawoios, painted and equipped for war, were lurking near it. I thought but little of the circumstance, as the Indians generally had been in a very unsettled state ever since the unhappy migration. The family had with them a young man, who had taken to wife a heathen daughter of the old chief. He was a stranger from a distant part, and was noted for never moving from the house without a short-barrelled gun in his hand. After the services of the following Sunday were concluded, we were disturbed about nine in the evening by a loud outcry proceeding from the Caribi portion of the village. While we were doubting as to the cause, Commodore's son and another young man came in a hurried manner to summon me, bearing torches and cutlasses in their hands. They declared that the Acawoios were upon them, and had struck down the young stranger. Proceeding TRIALS. 193 to the spot, I found the yoimg man writhing in, his hammock, apparently in great pain from a blow on his thigh. The w^omen were crying around him in a frantic manner, and the whole village was in an uproar, every man getting his weapons to defend himself and family. With great difficulty I learned that the young man, who had gone some little distance from the houses, had seen an Acawoio approaching behind him from the forest, and had suddenly turned and sprung upon him, throwing his arms around him, but had been hurled to the ground by the superior strength of his enemy, and received a random blow as he fell, the Acawoio escaping into the forest, as the cry for assistance was raised and answered. Nothing could exceed the panic of the women and children, and the men were all asking what they should do. It seemed best to tell them to assemble outside the chief's house, while the women and chil- dren should keep inside. This they did, but the con- fusion was great, the house being quite full, and some of the females crying, others laughing hysterically, and many talking widi great vehemence at the same time. At this moment, the wife of the young man ran into the midst of us, crying out that a man was concealed .behind a bush near the house. Imme- diately every gun was pointed in that direction, and some of the Caribs began to spread themselves around, gliding close to the ground, with their pieces cocked and advanced, ready to be discharged 194 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. at the slightest motion. The night was very dark, but many torches were blazing around, and the young woman before mentioned rushed wildly for- ward with the men, whirling a blazing firebrand to give them additional light. A low cry was now heard close at hand, which was answered from a distance. The Caribs exclaimed, " Acawoio !" and became exasperated. I then de- sired young Commodore to teU them all to stop and listen. This arrested them, and he then interpreted, that " even if they should kill an Acawoio, they would make bad worse, and the blood feud would never end. If enemies were there at all, they were probably few, and unprovided with fire-arms, and the Post-holder should be instantly sent for, who when he came would settle the matter between their tribes in a peaceable and Christian manner." The messengers were accordingly sent, and the Caribs satisfied themselves with posting guards outside the house till morning. I then went to see the state of the Arawdks, one of the Caribs running after me with a torch (which I had forgotten), lest I should have been shot by mistake in the dark. It was no needless precaution, for each Araw^k had his gun prepared, having heard the sound in the forest, which they said was the voice of men. No woman went to the water that night unless attended by her husband, who carried his cutlass and a blazing firebrand. Many tales wer6 afloat to account for an attack of the Acawoios, which seemed to have been expected for some time TRIALS. 195 before. Most of our people thought that they were a party from Ciiyuni, or from Masaruni, sent by the impostor there to attack our mission. The next morning young Commodore with a party of his men scoured the forest in hopes of discovering the Acawoios, and entering into a parley. They re- turned without success, having only found a small basket of Acawoio manufacture. On the second morning the Post-holder arrived from his house at the mouth of the Pomeroon, having travelled aU night. We went together towards the head of the river. As we were proceeding on the following morning up the beautiful windings of the stream, we heard a low whoop from the high bank above us. This proceeded from France, Commadore's brother, who had quitted his settlement, and, with his two wives and children, was going to seek shelter among his heathen relatives. He said that a woman had seen two Acawoios in a field not far distant, and had been pursued by them towards her house. All the people in that part were in a great panic, and though much allowance was to be made for excitement and exaggeration, it seemed certain that there was a strong party lurking in the forests with no good intentions. It afterwards appeared that the father of the young Carib who had been assaulted had, two years before, been assassinated before his eyes, and that he, having discharged an arrow at the men who kUled him, had been marked out to be put to death. Whether he considered himself as bound by their 2 196 TSE INDIAN TBIBE8 OF GUIANA. fearful custom to be the avenger of blood, we know not, but it seemed evident, from his wild manner, that his mind was affected by the circumstances in which he was placed. His life having been attempted in the Essequibo, where he resided, he fled to Pomeroon, and this led to the events here related. I did not consider his presence desirable at the mission, and recommended him to seek employment at the coast on one of the sugar estates, whither his enemies would not be able to follow him with any prospect of success in their mur- derous design. The mission again became quiet as before. Never had its buildings appeared so neat ; and all the paths whichiled to the different parts of the village were kept in good order, and bordered with lilies, whose flowers of brilliant scarlet contrasted beautifully with their dark green leaves. At this time the sad news of the famine in Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland reached us. Collec- tions were made all over the colony for the relief of the sufferers. The subject was laid before the Indians at the mission, and they at once offered to contribute cassava and other provisions, for the relief of the hungry people. When told that they would spoil in their passage over the wide sea, they said that they had little money, as the drought of the preceding year had reduced them to penury, and their clothes were nearly worn out, their young men being at that time absent working for money to buy more. This was the truth, as I knew. TRIALS. 197 Cornelius was present, and, seeing how matters stood, he went quietly away. He had just returned from the sugar estates, bringing with him about ten doUars, the produce of his industry, with which he was about to proceed to Georgetown to purchase clothes for his family. This sum he brought and laid before me. Taking one dollar, he said, "I give this for myself, and this," said he, adding another, "for my wife and eldest daughter," Then turning to his countrymen, he continued, "Friends, you have little money, I will lend you from this tiU it is gone, and repay me when you are able." One after another availed themselves of the offer ; others rummaged up a little more ; some poor old widows brought their " half-bits," (two-pence) and fifty-two dollars were sent that week from Pomeroon. Half of that sum was collected among the inhabitants of the lower district of the river. The mission at Waramuri was then lying desolate, and that on the Pomeroon was about to share its fate. I became at this period too weak to con- tinue my duties. After lingering many days, I was reluctantly compelled to send for paddlers to convey me to the sea-coast. The messenger told the Indians whom he met, and the news spread widely along the rivers during the night.^ The next morning before ^ The rapidity with which news spreads over an Indian district has struck others as well as myself. Mr. M'Clintock says in reference to it, " Let a woman, for instance, of the Caribi tribe, be injured, and a report to that effect will reach the ear of every Carib throughout the district in almost as short a time as a pigeon would convey it ; and as the report of the injury reaches 198 TSE INDIAN TRIBES OF GVIANA. daybreak we heard a low liuni of voices around the mission house. It was the lament of our poor people, some of whom had come many miles through the darkness, and brought little presents of pines and other fruits, which we could not eat. As if they had not previously been kind enough to us, or we had needed gifts to induce us to stay ! Our parting need not be described. The voyage was very sorrowful. My wife and new-born infant beside me were both suflPering greatly from the want of medical aid, and when at times I raised my head I saw that Cornelius, who steered, could not restrain his tears, which ran down his cheeks, as he sUently looked on us and thought he saw in our departure the ruin of his hopes for his people's good. Several months elapsed. At length I was enabled to pay a monthly visit of several days to the mission. But in May 1849, increasing debility compelled me to return to England ; leaving, with deep regret, both stations vacant. To that at Waramuri Mr. Currie was soon after sent as catechist ; but he too was in about a year disabled by sickness, and compelled to leave, haAdng lost his wife and child a few months before. Repeated afflictions of that kind seemed likely to compel the final abandonment of that station, which was far beyond the reach of medical aid. We knew that in such a case the verdant forest would soon cover the place where stood the house of them, every man makes ready^on the instant to defend or aid, not at his own place, but at the ahode of the injured person." TRIALS. 199 prayer, and where the departed members of the mission families await the resurrection morn. But we knew also that the story of the mission at Waramuri would not be soon forgotten ; but that the Indian fathers would point to that hill with its mysterious mound, and tell their children of the hundreds of men who assembled and cleared that extent of ground, and wUlingly assisted in building a place of worship where themselves and families might be taught the religion of the Lord Jesus. A dark cloud now hung over the sister missions. During its continuance we could only exercise faith in the divine promises, and pray that He whose religion we had feebly endeavoured to plant amidst those dense forests and marshy savannahs would yet " look down from heaven, behold and visit that vine." CHAPTEE XIII. MAHAICONI. Situation of tlie Mahaiooni — Expedition in 1844- — Great Indian Assembly and Maquarri Dance — Eesult— Gloomy Prospects. The events related in the foregoing pages occurred near the "western boundary of the province. That which we will now briefly notice took place in the Indian country between the Demerara and the Berbice ; where there are three smaller rivers, the Mahaica, the Mahaiconi, and the Abari. The Araw^ks of that district, having heard of the change among their western brethren, made applica- tion for a Christian teacher to be placed among them- selves. Accordingly, in April 1844, the Bishop visited those streams, taking me with him. We first ascended the Mahaica, and found only forty-one Indians. We next proceeded to examine the Mahaiconi : the Post-holder of that district, Mr. Hancock, accompanying us in a bateau with four black rowers. A large canoe was in attendance, containing ten Araw^ks, a deputation from the Mahaiconi clan, who had come to meet us. MASAICONI. 201 The -weather was fine, and the river scenery, though confined, extremely pleasant. Many parrots and macaws were flying above us, or seated among the branches of the trees on both sides of the stream. Having bivouacked in the forest from 3 A.M. until 9, we again set forward, and after rowing some miles, our party landed and proceeded on foot through the forest, leaving the bateau in charge of the crew, the principal man of whom bore the name of Bacchus.-^ About noon we got clear of the forest, and entered on a large plain. At a distance appeared an Indian village, the principal settlement of the Arawaks. As we di-ew near, the singular and well-remembered shouts of the assembled Indians told that they were all engaged in a grand Maquarri dance, similar to that which I had witnessed in the Koraia, and of which an account has been given. There were about two hundred Indians present. Most of the men were dancing, having their faces painted red in various patterns, and their heads adorned, some with coronals of feathers, and others with the white down of birds. Beads in great abund- ance, and the shining cases of the wings of beetles, which glittered in the sunlight, and rattled as they ^ The names of the gods and goddesses, heroes and tyrants, of classic antiquity, were given to the negroes in their days of heathen- ism and slavery. One of our paddlers on the Mahaica was Apollo. I have had the honour of being conveyed in a small canoe by Jupiter and Vulcan. African names, as Quashi, Gudjo, Amba, Adjuba, &c., and those of modern warriors and statesmen, were mingled with the above, sometimes presenting strange combina- tions, as Adonis Bob, Cupid Toby, &c. 202 T3E INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. danced, were added to their other showy and fantastic ornaments. The females were quietly looking on, being seated on the ground under a large house, where on a raised stand was placed a canoe full of paiwari. There was a wild beauty in the whole scene, mingled with much that in our eyes was grotesque and absurd, A drunken festival was a singular preparation for the reception of Christianity, and a strange mode of wel- coming a Bishop. It was indeed the besb way they could think of to show their good-will, but the • absurdity reached its climax when one of their leaders apologetically said, " If we had known sooner that the Bishop was coming to see us, we should have been better prepared for him ; and two canoes of paiwari would have been made instead of one." We were glad, however, to find that they were still sober, the entertainment having but just com- menced. Their chief, named Swey, was lying sick in his hammock. While the Bishop was visiting him, I requested the dancers to desist. They did so imme- diately, and assembled in the large house. The men as they entered laid their whips (which, in their ideas, have a sort of sacred character) on a board placed for that purpose. They then seated themselves in rows, with the women and children ranged behind them, and silently awaited the address of the Bishop. The object of our visit was then explained, and the main doctrines of Christianity set before them. They were also kindly reminded of the natural consequences MAHAICONl. 203 of some of their heathen practices, especially of their drunken festivals. They were much moved when this part of the Bishop's address was interpreted ; some instances of murder and suicide having lately occurred among them, the effects of intoxication. An animated discussion ensued. We had two Christian Araw4ks with us, each of whom was sur- rounded, by a throng of the late Maquarri dancers. The latter eagerly asked when a teacher would come to live with them. When we took leave of them it was near night, and, as the. forest path would have been difficult and dangerous, the Bishop, myself, and three Indians embarked in a canoe. It was so small and " crank " that the whole party were obliged to sit on small pieces of wood laid in the bottom. In this manner we proceeded, groping along, as it were, in the increasing darkness, for about two hours, when we reached a wider stream. The moon then rose, and by her light we saw the bateau. Bacchus had kindled a fire on the shore, and provided for us a meal, of which we were all in great need. At three the next morning we went on our way down the river. The result of this visit was the establishment of a station among the Araw^ks who inhabit those savannahs. Mr. Berry was the first teacher. In 1846 he was succeeded by Mr. S. Manning, who was compelled by severe illness to leave in less than two years. At that time nearly all our Indian stations, so prosperous a little before, were in a 204 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. state of abandonment on account of the sickness of their teachers. It was also a Tery gloomy period for the colony at large. Cuba and other slave countries had seen, with joyful surprise, the British nation (a few years after sweeping slavery from their own colonies) freely opening their markets to slave-grown sugar. To avail themselves to the fullest extent of the advan- tage thus oflfered to the slave owners, a largely increased consumption of African flesh and blood was needed ; and this was being rapidly supplied by vessels built expressly for that nefarious traffic, and weU fitted in size and swiftness to escape our cruisers. ^ On the other hand, our planters, whose sugar was raised by free and paid labour, had been much de- pressed. A very large number of fine estates had been sold, others abandoned. Those who had been able to survive the crisis were struggling hard, by improved machinery, agricultural chemistry, and by the ener- getic expedient of bringing labourers from the other side of the earth, to keep up their cultivation, most of which would otherwise have disappeared. But it was impossible, under those circumstances, to keep up the rate of wages demanded by the emancipated labourers. Crime, especially incendiarism, was very prevalent in the colony at that time. Our Indian stations seemed to share the general ^ Some of those slavers, new vessels, and remarkable for their beautiful lines and complete equipment, were captured and brought to Demerara about that time. MASAICONI. 205 depression, though from a diflferent cause. Perhaps, encouraged by the success which had attended our later efforts, we had begun to look on that success almost as a matter of course, not sufficiently regard- ing Him who alone giveth the increase. Then, rapidly, teacher after teacher sank disabled, and, at the time, it seemed doubtful if some of our stations would ever revive. " Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit," was the lesson which those adversities seemed sent to teach us. PAET II. CHAPTER I. INCIDENTS OP CAKIBI LIFE. State of the CarilDS in 1851 — ^Visits to their Head-quarters — In- cidents — Child killed by a Cougar — Caribi Man devoured by a Jaguar — Subsequent Visits — Quashioikotahpo — Mora-tree Bridge — Impediments to Navigation — The Slayer of Jaguars — An Acawoio Clan from a distant Eiver join us. We resume our narrative with the latter part of the year 1851. At that period matters had become some- what more promising as regarded the prosperity of the colony. Renewed efforts were also being made for the advancement of the aborigines. Bartica^ was flou- rishing, and other stations were progressing favourably. But those in the great Indian district with which 1 Bartica was at that time under the joint care of the Eev. Messrs. Bemau and Lohrer, though soon to lose the services of those good men, by the death of the latter and the departure of the former. The Eev. Mr. HiUis succeeded them. The iTifln-!!- of settlers of other races, and the establishment of a large penal settlement on the Masaruni in its neighbourhood, gradually deprived Bartica of its original character as a purely Indian mission. Many of the Christian Indians left it to reside in more secluded districts, carrying with them the knowledge they had acquired. One of them, whom I accidentally met long after, showed me letters well written in English, which he had received from his sisters (pure Araw^ks like himself, who were then iu England), with the photographic carte de vidte of one of them. P 210 THE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. I had been connected were much depressed. They had lain desolate more than two years, during which period lingering sickness had detained me in England. On my return, the Bishop, wishing to keep up my connexion with a district in which my state of health no longer allowed me to reside permanently, placed me in charge of the parish of the Holy Trinity, of which that district was nominally a part. I was thus enabled to visit at 'short intervals the people among whom I had lived long and happily. The first of those visits was with the Bishop. We found Waramuri totally abaridoned, and in a state of perfect ruin and desolation, in which it remained several years longer. At Cabacaburi we found a large number of Axaw^ks under a new teacher — Mr. Landroy. There were also many Caribs present. Some of these latter were living as Christians, but others had fallen away during the years in which they had been as sheep not having a shepherd. The wives of some who had been catechumens in former years, significantly, and as one means of showing their condition, pointed to their tattered and scanty garments as we passed, and said, "Look on these ! " They spoke regretfully of the decent apparel which their husbands had worked to procure for them when, a few years before, the summons to embrace Christianity had first reached their ears. We were much moved at those signs of retro- gression ; and, as there was great need for exertion among them, the Bishop resolved to accompany me INCIDENTS OF CARIBI LIFE. 211 to their "country," the head of the Pomeroon, in the course of the following year. At the appointed time we visited their settlements on the Issororo and Upper Pomeroon, and found a large number of Caribs assembled to meet us at a place about two days' paddle from Cabacaburi. Most of these had never been under instruction, and were as wild and savage in their appearance as any I had seen in former years — the men being adorned with their bright red paint, the women with their sapuru or leg-bandages, and both sexes almost nated. That settlement was named Touboondu, from the rocks in the bed of the stream, " toubo," in the Caribi tongue, signifying a stone, or rock. In that district they are numerous, and quite unmixed with other tribes. It may be considered the head-quarters of the remnant of their nation, which here awaits its fate, — silent extinction, or incorporation with other races in the Church of Christ. We spent two days among them, having prayers and religious instruction morning and evening, using as interpreters the Christian Caribs who formed our crew. At night we were much incommoded by thfe want of sleeping-room, there being eighty persons of both sexes who had to swing their hammocks in three small open houses or sheds. And a singular scene those houses presented, crowded as they were with so many wild-looking Indians, who were hanging •around us in rows one above another, the lower ones, after their manner, dangling their naked legs through the smoke and flickering flame of their p 2 212 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. numerous fires, and all seeming to enjoy their position immensely. Of course, privacy was out of the question, — thirty female heads rising from the hammocks at the slightest sound, — and sleep was equally difficult to obtain, since, from the manner in which the strained beams creaked as the men and women got out from time to time to replenish the fires beneath them, there was evidently some danger of our all coming down with a crash together. The next morning we sent out two huntsmen, who returned in the afternoon with a deer and an acouri, also two birds — a large powis and a maam. Their good fortune made a feast for all, and our Carib friends were soon busy cleaning, cutting up, cooking, and eating in every direction ; while the Bishop's faithful old black servant. Branch, took care of us. Towards evening, we observed that most of the younger men had washed their faces, and appeared less ferocious. It must, without soap, have been a difficult task, and in spite of all their scouring they could not entirely get rid of the bright vermilion pigment, which obstinately clung to and stiffened the hair on their foreheads. Although so wild in their appearance, those Caribs manifested much good feeling, were very grateful to us for our visit, and on our departure accompanied us to our boat with many kind farewells. This was the Bishop's first visit to the Upper Pomeroon, and he was struck, as I had been, with the beauty of that part of the river, and the wild magnificence of the forest through which it flows. INCIDENTS OF CABIBI LIFE. 213 The banks are very high, and crowned with timber trees of enormous size, which are interlaced with bush-ropes and creepers of proportionate magnitude, and adorned by parasites of the most brilliant colours. In some places the interlacing vines form wide- spreadiag leafy curtains, which hang from the upper branches to the river's bank, and stretch along from tree to tree, as if to screen the forest glades from the fierce rays of the sun. Below, the stream winds in a most singular manner, and is very rapid in the rainy season. Sometimes, as the bank wears away, rows of immense trees, bound together by bush-ropes, are precipitated with a noise like thunder down into the river, turning over in their fall. In one of my early voyages I found the upper part of the river obstructed by a prodigious fall of that kind, but being in a very small canoe, with two or three careful Indians, we were enabled to pass close to the bank, under the roots of the trees, which rested against it with their tops sub- merged below. This required most delicate steering, as the confined current was rushing rapidly through, .and there were large masses of loosened earth adhering to and resting on the roots overhead, of which the slightest concussion would have brought down suf- ficient to sink us. During this voyage of the Bishop, however, we met with no such obstruction, the weather being dry and the water low. As we came down the river, our Caribi paddlers paused to point out a gloomy-looking stream, which had been the scene of a shocking occurrence a short 214 TSE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. time before. There was then a Caribi family living there, some little children belonging to which had gone into the water to bathe. While thus engaged, their attention was drawn by a cry firom the yomigest, a fine little boy whom they had left- seated at the water-side, and looking round they saw that a deer- tiger or cougar, which had been attracted by their merry noise and splashing, had come behind the poor child, and was standing with one paw on his shoulder. The elder sister and a brother, while screaming for help, attempted bravely to drive away the savage beast; but their efforts only caused it to seize the poor little fellow's head with its powerful jaws. It was a moment of agony. Their father was absent, but another Carib, who was near, rushed to the spot, followed by the child's mother and other females. The beast, startled at this sudden increase in the number of its assailants, dropped its little victim, whom the man immediately took up and gave to the mother. But assistance had come too late. The upper part of the head was nearly torn off, and the child gave his last struggle as his mother received him into her arms. They carried the body into the house, and the man went off to fetch the child's father. When night set in, the disappointed beast came back to claim his prey, raging and yelling through the hours of dark- ness around the open shed which formed their dwelling. No man was present, and the females had great difficulty with firebrands and shouting in INCIDENTS OF CABIBI LIFE. 215 keeping him off. A more wretched night we can scarcely conceive, — for all, especially the poor mother ! Welcome must the light of morning have been, when the savage animal retired, and the father of the slain infant came to bury him. About the same time a Caribi man in a more distant part was killed and eaten by a jaguar. He had gone into the forest to procure a certain kind of bark, in which the Indians roll the tobacco-leaf to form their cigars, and did not return. His friends, searching for him, found on the second day his foot- tracks, and those of a very large jaguar by which he had evidently been beset. Following these for a long way in anxious suspense, they at length came to a spot where there were marks of a conflict, and saw their comrade's bow broken on the ground. Still the man had apparently had other weapons, and for a time beaten off his assailant, for the tracks of both passed on. At length they reached the scene of a last struggle. On the ground lay the Indian's knife, which he had lashed to the end of a stick as a kind of lance, but it had been loosened, and turned aside against the tough hide of the animal. From the marks on a tree it was evident that the poor fellow, in dire extremity at the approach of night and the failure of his weapons, had been trying to climb it, but, ere he had ascended it ten feet, the jaguar had sprung after him, pulled him down, and torn him in pieces. The remains, terribly mangled, and half devoured, lay near. One of the two Caribs who 216 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. found the body afterwards told the Bishop and myself of the sickness which came over him at the sight, and said that he had never since felt secure, when traversing the forest with only his knife, bow, and arrows. " Tigers," as the settlers call them, seemed iadeed at that period more numerous and daring than usual. As we that evening passed Makasina, the Post-holder's residence, we saw a number of persons at the water- side, and were informed by Mrs. M'Clintock that an ■Indian of her household had that morning shot a " deer-tiger." The skin, newly stripped off, was held up to be seen by us. It was, exclusive of the taU, about as long as the Indian who held it, of a silvery red colour, without spots or stripes ; and we saw by the holes that two buUets had entered, one on each side of the spine. Ever anxious to aid personally in evangelizing the Indians, our good Bishop, at a subsequent period, revisited with me the Caribi territory. That voyage was not, however, so propitious as others had been. A heavy squaU during the night had caused our tent-boat to break from her moorings at the mission, and in the morning she was no- where to be seen. The Indians, searching in their smaller craft, recovered her after the lapse of some hours, and we started. But a violent storm came on soon after — the thunder rolled, and the lightning swept the river around us, while heavy squalls of wind alternated with such torrents of rain as are only encountered within the tropics. Our boat was INGIBBNTS OF OABIBI LIFE. 2,1V small and very crank ; and we found that, in the hurry occasioned by the delay, she had been care- lessly laden, with light packages below and the heavier ones above, so that we had much difi&culty in keeping her from being capsized as the heavy gusts of wind caught the tent. Our men were unable to paddle, aU their efforts being required in trimming the boat. Fortunately we drifted near the residence of the Post-holder, and ran in tiU the abatement of the storm enabled us to re-arrange our luggage. But as the weather continued very threat- ening, at the Bishop's suggestion I left my little son (who had come with us to the river to re-visit his birth-place) under the care of Mr. M'Clintock, and that gentleman having lent us a lighter tent- covering, we went on more safely and comfortably than before. The Caribi settlement we were now to visit bears the rather singular name of Quashinikotahpo. Its principal inhabitant had taken the name of Perry, from a gentleman with whom he had lived when a boy. He was an attendant at the mission, and had invited us to his house, sending also a messenger to summon his heathen neighbours to meet us there. We landed at nightfall, and found the forest path so dark that we had to be led by Perry and his friends, who had come to the water-side to receive us. As we were thus groping our way, we heard the sound of running water, and found that we had to cross a stream on the trunk of a large tree. This, in the dark, was unpleasant and dangerous; but the 218 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GVIANA. Indians grasped our hands firmly, telling us to feel our way and iold on with our feet, whicli was, however, not quite so easy for us with shoes, as for themselves who wore none. The water seemed by its sound to be flowing over a rugged bed some twenty feet below, and we were glad when we got over. But ere we could congratulate each other, we found that we had a similar stream to cross on the same tree, a discovery which gave us more surprise than pleasure. When we were at length safely over both, an Indian woman came down a hill to meet us, bearing a. blazing fire-brand, by the light of which our crew also crossed with our luggage on their heads. All then went up to the house, where, after prayers, we gladly swung our hammocks for repose. Early the next morning we went to examine the rustic bridge, and found that what had seemed two streams was, in fact, one and the same, which, at some distance, takes a singular bend and winds back again. Across the deep bed of the stream where it is thus doubled, the Indians had thrown theix bridge, by felling a mora so lofty as to in- clude both portions in its span. I measured the trunk of this tree, and found it 108 feet fi:om the part where it had been cut to that where its lowest branch had grown. A noble size ; yet there seemed many others around of equal magnitude and beauty in those calmly majestic forests. "We found Perry, with the other Caribs, busily engaged in fixing long stakes in the bed of the INCIDENTS OF GABIBI LIFE. 219 stream, and tying a hand-rail with bush-ropes to their tops, for our convenience in re-crossing their bridge. This we had not asked for : it was entirely the suggestion of their own native courtesy; and they must have risen at earliest dawn to set about it. We met but few Indians at Quashiuikotahpo, some mistake having been made in announcing our visit; and, as the Bishop's time was limited, we were obliged to depart, after exhorting our kind host and his neighbours, " with full purpose of heart to cleave unto God."^ On our return, we found that a very large tree had fallen into the river during the storm, and it now completely obstructed our passage, reaching from bank to bank. This caused us to rest on our paddles for some time. As we could not venture to haul our crank boat over the trunk, against which the swift stream was chafing and leaping, and the banks were too steep to allow of our landing, one of our crew, an active young Carib, stepped on the tree with an axe, and proceeded to cut it through. The weight of the stream assistinsLhi'^^— ^'~' — TTC .^-o^-^-cxrisixr-anar^f^r^iaaxted through the ^^g, we picked up our Indian, who did not even lose his axe, as we had feared he would. Those missionary expeditions were not without fruit among the Caribs ; but the great distance the 1 This settlement wa. abandoned by the Indians some years after, in consequence, Perry told me, of the danger to Ins cMdren of falUng from Hs locally-famous mora bridge mto one or other portion of the stream. 220 TSS INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. people had to travel, and the heavy labour of paddling up the stream on their return during the wet season, with the scarcity of canoes, all conspired to keep them from visiting our station with that jegularity which was essential to their progress in Christianity. We found several whom I had gathered and taught when children, in the early days of the mission, now grown-up men and women. Some of these were following heathen practices : one in par- ticular had become a piai-man, or sorcerer. I shaU not soon forget his look of shame when I asked him to read to the Bishop a portion of the English New Testament, which he could do very well. Others gave us much comfort, and were the means of bringing their parents to the knowledge of God. The father of one of these, a man named " France," the chief Carib on the Issororo, thus became one of our most steady converts. He was a man of con- siderable personal strength and cool courage, of which he gave a remarkable proof about the time of the Bishop's visit narrated above. He was one day in his field with a little dog playing obwrno s.^, ... , . , . ° a distance watching him. The beast slunk away when observed, and as the man had no gun he went quietly on with his work, clearing away the bush with his cutlass, which was a new and good one. But "Kaikusi," as the Caribs caU the jaguar, had marked the dog at least for his prey, and only re- treated to execute a flank march through the bush and come unperceived on the rear. Having effected INCIDENTS OF CABIBI LIFE. 22 1 this, he crept noiselessly forward and sprang upon the dog, which was instantly killed. The Carib rushed to the assistance of his favourite, causing the animal to relinquish his prey, and turn to spring upon him ; but the man anticipated the attack, and dashing forward, decided the contest by a single blow, which buried his cutlass deep in the jaguar's skull. The skin of that animal came into the possession of a friend of mine, and was regarded with unusual interest, the only wound having been the long gash by which the head had been cloven down 'to the nose. On a subsequent occasion the same Carib had a similar encounter with another of those animals, which abound in that quarter, and shivered its skull with an axe with which he was going to fell some trees. His countrymen regarded him with pride on account of these and similar exploits; but he him- self never spoke of them to us, unless directly questioned on the subject, and then modestly and without boasting. WhUe our labours in the Pomeroon were during those years chiefly directed to the work of evange- lizing the Caribs ; with somewhat chequered results, as has been shown ; an event took place, which caused considerable uneasiness for a time, and had conse- quences of some importance. This was the arrival of several families of the Acawoio nation ; who, to the astonishment of all, had come from a distance of nearly two hundred miles, begging to be received as catechumens. 222 TSE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. As the general character of that nation had been very bad, the other tribes telling terrible stories of them as poisoners and night murderers, the excitement at the mission was not small. Most of our other Indians thought that their days were numbered if those strangers were to be admitted among them ; and Mr. Landroy and his family, remembering the fate of Mr. Youd, the missionary on the Essequibo (who, with his wife, had been poisoned by an old man of that tribe), were not free from apprehen- sion. But Mr. M'Clintock, who knew the people, gave them a letter of recommendation, and as I desired that they might be received, they were so, though it was, so to speak, with fear and trembHng. The result of the coming of those Acawoios must be reserved to a subsequent chapter. It is sufl&eient here to say that they justified the confidence reposed in them ; and that in. Christian faith and practice those strangers, whose coming was in no respect due to us, and whose motives were regarded with such suspicion, soon surpassed many of those whom we had sought with long and painful labour to gather into the Church of Christ. Good is the lesson taught iu Holy Writ : — " Thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the even- ing withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." CHAPTER II. EPIDEMIC DISEASES. Mortality from Epidemics : Small-pox, Measles, &c. — The "Caribi," " Buck," or Indian Sickness — Destructive Visit of Cholera — Diminished Numbers. The numbers of the Indian races have been periodi- cally thinned by epidemic diseases. Some of these visitations have been already noticed. SmaU-pox, which had raged in 1841, returned in 1854, and carried oft' many whom we had not befen able to vaccinate. This was followed by measles. The number attacked was very large. Few died at the missions, where remedies were used, and the sick were nursed and prevented from bathing in the rivers, as an Indian always will if able to crawl from his hammock. A long drought and scarcity of food in- creased their liability to sickness. In the year 1856 the ranks of our Araw4ks were further thinned by a sore disease, an endemic, known by the name of the " Caribi (or Indian) sickness." As it is chiefly confined to the aborigines, few medical men have witnessed it ; but it is really one of the 224 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. most frightful and deadly scourges which affect the Indian tribes. It is highly infectious, and when it seizes a person eats its way upwards through the rectum and other intestines tUl the sufferer dies. There are various remedies in the early stage, which may save the patient ; but as the Indians, from false modesty, object to the •• necessary mode of their application, they seldom, when stricken, will divulge the presence of the disease, until it is too late. They silently pine and droop, until they sink down in the last stage, from which there is no recovery. This terrible disease had, indeed, been no stranger to us before ; but it now broke out with unexampled violence among our Arawiks, having been brought from the Demerara to the Pomeroon by a famUy of that tribe. Its severity may be seen by the foUowiag instance : — Among the persons seized was a man called Cabouca Thomas and his family. They came in their canoe, in a most deplorable condition, to the residence of the Post-holder ; and Mrs. M'Clintock, with true Christian-womanly compassion, received and nursed them, using every effort to save their lives. It was in vain ; the whole family died, with the excep- tion of one child. The victims wereten in number, five being communicants at the mission. These sad events, being rapidly followed by the lamented death of Mrs. M'Clintock, and the dangerous illness of her husband, our good Post-holder, greatly alarmed the EPIDEMIC DISEASES. 225 Caribs. Some of tliem went into the most inac- cessible parts of the forest to escape the disease, and we learned that they had even cut down large trees to obstruct the paths, lest our people should too easily foUow them. Those trials had scarcely passed, when another came, more sudden and equally destructive. The cholera afflicted the whole colony in the early part of 1857. In Trinity parish there were 772 cases, about a twelfth part of the population ; and of these 224 were fatal, the sufferers beiug chiefly of the African and Hindoo races. From thence it spread into the interior, and soon attacked Cabacaburi. The first case was that of a little Arawik boy, who was seized with cholera in a canoe on the river, and cast ashore by heathen Indians. The unfor- tunate child lay unnoticed till surrounded by the rising tide. Some one then saw him, and told Mrs. Landroy, who brought him ashore through the water, and did her best to save him. But aid came too late, and he died the same evening. The next day was Sunday, and the cholera broke out among the congregation. The poor boy had been carried by a young Arawik convert named Daniel to his house : and the wife of Daniel was attacked by the disease, and died in a few hours. Two other persons next died in the • same house. Then a panic began, and in alarm and terror the Indians fled. But -about five-and-twenty of our best people remained, having relatives sick, and feeling it their duty, con- Q 226 THE INDIAN TRIBES OP GUIANA. trary to the practice of their heatlieii countrymen, to attend upon them. Wilhelmina, one of the first Arawik women wko had joined us, seeing the spread of the disease and the sore trouble all around, quietly took her paddle and went to her field a few miles away, returning with her small canoe laden with yams and cassava; " lest," as she said, " want of food should increase the distress of those who might survive." Her cahn and wise forethought seemed afterwards to have been almost prophetic, Daniel and some others were attacked the same evening. Excessive fear now began to prevent those who were yet unstricken from nursing those who were seized with this (to them) unknown and fearful malady. Wilhelmina, ever foremost in good works, then devoted herself to nurse Daniel. He soon died, and she herself was next stricken. Her family wished to remove her to her own house, but she forbade it, lest she should carry the infection thither. Bidding them farewell, she joined her husband in prayer in their native tongue, after which she re- mained a few hours silent, and in a state of coUapse, until her soul was released. Hers was the tenth death. Seventeen others were lying around, ill with the same disease. Two of them soon after died, and the mission family was exhausted with incessant watching and nursing. Our venerable catechist, being ill of a lingering disease of which he afterwards died, could do but little. While his people were dying around he was EPIDEMIC DISEASES. 227 unable to aid ; but tbe female members of his family- were moying -mgiit and day among the cottages to answer the ealls made upon them. On the Tuesday Mr. Landroy had sent me informa- tion of the outbreak, with a request for a further supply of medicines, which were immediately for- warded. After this I received no certain information of their fate, but heard alarming rumours, it being even reported that all were dead. Fearing that not only the Indians, but also a part of the mission family might have been cut off, or deprived by the disease of all whom they might send for assistance, I felt great anxiety, and resolved, if possible, to visit the spot with further aid to ascertain the truth. A supply of drugs and remedies was provided, and a boat borrowed : but the great difl&culty was to get a crew, it being considered a sort of forlorn hope. Mr. E. Bunbury, one of our health officers, who had agreed to go with me, found at last three Indians, who had been working on the coast; but, being alarmed at the de9,ths among the black population there, were viUing to try the interior for a few days. We a,rrived at the mission at sunset on a beau- tiful levening, and found that the teacher and his family had been spared, only one of them having been attacked by the ,cholera. But of the Indians there were, indeed, none left strong enough to have brought a message to me. All had been stricken ^ith the disease, and more than one-third of the nnmbeir ^ere dead. Q 2 228 THE INDIAN TBIBUS OF GUIANA. The surviving Ai-aw^ks had been removed from the infected houses to the Caribi portion of the village (no Caribs, fortunately, having been present), — ^there they recovered, and the plague was stayed. One family alone was still sick, but the others all bore fearful traces of the narrowness of their escape. Cornelius, emaciated and weak, was among the sur- vivors, but death had visited his house : and there was not an Indian present who had' not lost some very near and dear relative. One poor woman, named Maria, had lost her husband just before, and now the cholera had swept away her two children, her mother, two sisters, and a nephew. She had attended them all, and performed the last offices for all ; and, though she looked very Ol, was quite resigned. The next day the surviving members of the Church were called together, and the Holy Communion was administered to them in the thatched school-house. It was one of the most solemn services it has ever been my lot to perform, for we all seemed to stand on the brink of the grave. There were ten Araw4ks, the mission family, ourselves, and two settlers who had come to me for medicines — twenty in aU. Before leaving we paid a very sad visit to ths burial-ground. There, beneath the tall feather-like bamboos, were resting the mortal remaias of most of my old friends, the first-fruits to the Church of Christ in that quarter. We grieved especially for the loss of Wilhelmina ; a woman who possessed a most kind heart and excellent disposition, was EPIDEMIC DISEASES. 229 deeply thoughtful, and had rendered services among the women of her tribe equal to those of Cornelius among the men. She had formerly lived in my family, and had been of the greatest use to my wife, as well as myself, in acquiring their language ; and, as an assistant in the work of translation, I ever found her judgment and intelligence much superior to that of any individual, male or female, of her race. By this time repeated visitations had swept off most of our old Araw^ks,^ and driven away the Caribs. We could but mourn over the dead, yet not as those who have no hope, for we had seen Christian charity, fortitude, and self-devotion, during those sharp visitations. In the hope of a meeting hereafter, there was much to console and help us to say, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." 1 The Berbice river was also visited "hj tlie cholera at that, its first appearance in Guiana. The Arawdks of that river were decimated by it. CHAPTER III. REVIVAL OF WARAMUEI MISSION. The desolate Mission — Efforts for its Eevival — Airival of Mr, Wadie — HJis Missionary Career and Services — Severe Sickness — ^Perilous and lonely Condition — Slow Recovery and Eetum — Eelapse^UnmUiiig Eesignation^^Departure^-^Death. While the trials narrated in the last chapter afflicted the mission on the Pomeroon, an attempt was being made to revive the sister mission at Waramuri on the Moruca. When the Bishop, accompanied by Mr. M'Clintock and myself, visited the abandoned site in 1851, it bore a most desolate appearance. The chapel had been damaged by the wind and rain, and nearly devoured by wood-ants, during the five years which had elapsed since Mr. Nowers's departure : the bush had grown up, and the whole aspect of the settle- ment presented a grievous contrast to its former pleasant and flourishing condition. The Indian cottages had disappeared, and we saw instead a number of miserable sheds, with flat roofs of manicole thatch ; each just large enough to screen two or three hammocks from the weather. We wondered at seeing these placed immediately in front BEVIVAL OF WARAMWRI MISSION. 231 of the mission dwelling-liouse ; but found after- wards tliat Mr. Currie (who in the interval had been catechist there for a short period) had insisted on the people placing their dwellings immediately under his eye. It was a great mistake ; but the good teacher had commanded a ship in former days, and, having probably a lingering attachment to naval habits and discipline, desired, . from the gallery of his house, as from a quarter-deck, to see all that was going on among the people under his charge. But, though this was intended for their moral benefit, the Indians were by no means grateful for such close super^^sion, and would only put up the temporary sheds we saw, waiting for a superintending clergjonan to visit the mission and relax the rule. Mr. Currie had been compelled to resign his post through severe illness, and at the time of our visit the place was entirely deserted. It had a bad name for sickness ; and there seemed little prospect of obtaining another teacher. Hoping for better times, although it was impossible to save the chapel, I was desirous of still keeping up the dwelling-house ; and as a family from George- town asked permission to occupy it for a season, for the purpose of procuring and stuffing specimens of the beautiful birds in the neighbourhood, I gladly consented, on condition of their keeping the thatch in repair. The cause of the incessant fevers and mortahty which had driven away the missionaries was, unques- tionably, the large swamp in front. I read about 232 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. this period a medical report, in which it was stated that a belt of bush between a swamp and human dwellings in the tropics acts in a great degree as a barrier to the passage of the malaria. Our mis- sionaries had kept the slope of the hill perfectly free from bush, thinking it best for health as well as for neatness; but it was now grown up again, and I requested that it might be allowed to remain. The result seems to prove the correctness of the above theory, for the mission has since been as free from fever as any other settlement I know of in the interior; and I would strongly recommend the trial of so simple a plan at any station where that disease prevails. Three more years roUed away — the bird-stuffers were gone, and the mission still remained without a teacher. The Post-holder more than once urged the neces- sity of re-establishing it, even for the temporal benefit of the Indians around, among whom, especially the Waraus, murder and violence were frequent. In one of his official reports, dated Dec. 3d, 1853, after stating the circumstances of the murder of a poor woman in the Upper Moruca, and his arrest of five Waraus who had committed the deed with extreme cruelty, he went on to say, " I must respectfully suggest the re-establishment of Waramuri Mission; and if a fit and proper person be appointed to. it, and he become acquainted with the Indians entrusted to his care, murders and every other description of crime will vanish from amongst them. REVIVAL OF WABAMURI MISSION. 233 "The Araw^k Indians, -who attend the mission in the Pomeroon, afford the strongest example of the correctness of the opinion just offered ; — for example ^ when I first arrived in this district, many years before any missionary was appointed to it, a more disorderly people than the present Araw^ks could not be found in any part of the province ; murders and violent cases of assaults were of frequent occur- rence. But now the case is reversed : no outrages of any description ever happen, they regularly attend Divine service, their children are being educated, they themselves dress neatly, are lawfully married, and, as a body, there are no people, in point of general good conduct, to surpass them. This change, which has caused peace and contentment to prevail, has beeq brought about solely through missionary labour ; and why not, may I inquire, extend similar benefits to the more benighted children of the woods V'^ This recommendation gave powerful aid to our efforts, and the Bishop was soon after enabled to inform me that he had engaged the services of Mr. J. W. Wadie, who came out as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in April 1854, to take charge of the vacant mission. On my return from a visit to the rivers, I found Mr. Wadie at my house — a man of middle age, and ^ It will be otserved that the ahove (though true to the present day) was written by Mr. M'CUntock before the period of the epidemics, when om first and best converts among the Arawiks were nearly all living, and the work among them was in its highest prosperity. 234 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. very prepossessing appearance ; of sanguine tempera- ment, and full of zeal for the good cause in which he had embarked. Having been instructed by Mr. Nowers before he left England, he had provided aU things necessary for the life he was to lead — had a good supply of medicines, carpenters tools, gun, &c., and could use them all. Thus equipped, after a sojourn of a few days, he bade us farewell, and departed in good spirits for his solitary post. On his way he stopped at the Pomeroon mission, as I had advised, and left half his goods : the boat not being large enough to carry aU in safety over the sea between the mouths of the two rivers. On arriving at Waramuri, two days after, he imme- diately sent back the boat, with all her crew, for the rest. He then remained at the deserted mission, with a large swamp in front and the impervious forest behind, in solitude as complete (for the time) as that of Selkirk, or the fabled Crusoe, on his desert island. He found the mission-cottage much decayed, and full of vermin, and noxious reptiles, which harboured in the thatch. There was also a large hole in one of the sides. This he barricaded for the present with his packages, to keep out wild animals, tied up his hammock for the night, and, with his loaded gun ready at his side to greet any intruder, proceeded to make himself as comfortable as circumstances would permit. On looking over his goods he was rather astonished and dismayed to find that he had left all his pro' REVIVAL OF WARAMUBI MISSION. 235 visions beMnd, except a large supply of tea and a few biscuits. However, there was now no help for the oversight until the return of the boat. He had no means of quitting the spot, and was compelled to subsist on that slender diet for five or six days, during which time he remained quite alone, as the Indians had not heard of his arrival. At last a party of Waraus found him out. They came and took up their quarters under the sheds I have mentioned, immediately in front of the house, and in fuU view. He had, as yet, seen only the Christianized and comparatively civilized Indians at the other mission, and was not at all prepared for the misery and filth of these. Of all the Indians near the coast the "Waraus are least attentive to personal cleanliness ; and those Waraus were amongst the most unsavoury of their race. The wretched appearance of both sexes ; — the squalor of the younger women and the haggard and weird appearance of the old; — ^their almost entire want of clothing ; and the filthy habits which he witnessed, — filled the new comer -with profound disgust. He forthwith resolved to admit no Indian as an inmate of his house, but to cook and do everjrfching for him- self ; a resolution to which for years he stedfastly adhered. Those miserable Waraus being, as usual, half- starved, had come to beg; and, as Mr. Wadie was one of the most generous of men, his provisions, when they did arrive, underwent such a rapid con- 236 THE INDIAN TBIBE8 OF GUIANA. sumption that lie found he should soon be in want himself. This was an unfortunate beginning. His liberality being thus made known, every idle, skulking Indian in the district came to prey upon him ; and by such, almost exclusively, on my first visit, I found him surrounded. But the better and more honourable sort, perceiving that the new missionary kept his apart- ments closed, and would admit no Indian as a member of his household, felt deep resentment, and held them- selves aloof, as from a man who disliked and despised their race. The houses of the Indians being open to all who come peaceably, they expect the same from all who profess friendship towards them ; and the system of exclusion which Mr. Wadie thought himseK com- pelled to adopt retarded his usefulness for a long time. The mission-house, having no keeper, was entered and robbed while Mr. Wadie was gone to George- town to be ordained Deacon ; and the thieves, on his return, cleverly arranged matters so as to turn his suspicions on the Indians. He forthwith had his house surrounded by a palisade of strong posts and wattles, more than fifteen feet in height, as an addi- tional protection. The erection of this outwork gave increased offence. Notwithstanding those serious drawbacks, he la- boured very hard for the benefit of those around him. Morning and evening all were summoned to Divine worship ; he was most diligent and successful in school BBVIVAL OF WABAMUBI MISSION. 237 duties, and, being a man of pure Christian life and morals, Ms example began to take effect. In 1855, tbe Bishop visited the mission. He saw and appreciated the zealous labours, and the good that was being done ; and his mild and fatherly- counsel was of great service in pointing out the impediments to further usefulness. Among other things, he recommended the immediate- cutting down of the high fence, telling Mr. Wadie that, "notwith- standing its height, it could keep out no Indian who wished to enter." These words were scarcely spoken when, from the window of the mission-house, we saw an amusing proof of their correctness. A. wild young Carib, who was anxious to have a better view of the congregation then assembling for Divine service, ran up the fence like a monkey, and perched himself on the top of one of the corner posts. There, squatting on his heels, and with his copper- tinted back shining in the sun, from that small perch he gravely surveyed the other Indians who, in every variety of dress and undress, were passing beneath him towards the place of worship. We were amused, both at his grotesque appear- ance and at the unintentional proof he had given of the truth of the remark just made. As a matter of course, the fence was soon after reduced to a less obnoxious height. The next day we went on a missionary expedi- tion to the Indians who live beyond the head waters of Moruca. 238 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. There is in that part (as I have already said) an immense savannah, deeply covered with water in the wet season, but an impassable bog in the dry. It drains in two directions : towards the Moruca on the one hand, and on the other towards the large river Waini (or Gnainia, as the Spaniards wrote it), from which the countay derives ite name. In the wet season, by a network of streams, there is inland navigation from the mouth of the Moruca to tJiat of the Orinoco ; and at one time there was consider- able traffic by Venezuelan boats that way. We found the savannah so shallow, that after passing through some of the tributaries of the Waini, and spending a night among the Indians on the banks of the Asagata, we judged it best to return, as the August heat had set in. And it was well we did so, for we had much labour in forcing our return passage through the rapidly drying swamp. Keturning to the mission, we commenced the build- ing of another chapel-school in the room of the one destroyed. It was to be a very humble structure, merely an open logic ; the eastern end being endqseid, and having a raised floor for the performatiee of Divine worship. We had no funds, and could do no better in the then precarious circumstances of that poor mission. Before the Bishop departed, an Acawoio Indian, known by the name of Hughes, came with the skin of a very large specimen of the black jaguar, an animal rarely seen even by the Indians themselves. It is said by Humboldt to be " the largest and most blood- BEVIVAL OF WABAMURI MISSION. 239 thirsty variety ;" and is more feared than any other, as its dark colour renders it almost invisible when prowling or crouching in the deep shades of the forest In tke present instance the animal was detected by the Indian's dog, and shot dead by an arrow, which ■entered the thorax, and came out behind one of the fore-legs. The Bishop purchased the skin, and also wished to buy the formidable spear-headed arrow by which the beast had been slain. But the Indian declined to part with it ; not (as we at first thought) from a sentimental attachment to the weapon which had done such good service, but because hie would not go unarmed. When we had procured a similar •arrow from a Warau who was present, he readily exchanged. This visit had done much to strengthen the hands of Mr. Wadie, who evidently felt, with us, that it had been a time of profitable and pleasant communion. On our departure he went with us a little way down the river, and was as much afiected as we were ourselves when he bade farewell, and with tears in his eyes stepped from our boat into the small canoe that was to convey him back to his hermit-like bfe at the mission. Before many months had passed he experienced a ■terrible proof that it is not good for man to live alone. He had fitted up his cottage with great ingenuity, having made shelves, cupboards, window- blinds, screens, &c., and painted and papered'' the 1 The engravings of the Illustrated London News and other papers have been much used for that purpose in the cottages of the 240 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. interior, until it had a neat and even elegant appear- ance ; but lie had little comfort in it, for, except at my visits, he had no society whatever. We could not persuade him to admit a domestic, his liberality indeed being such that he could hardly afford to keep one. His food (prepared, not too sHLfully, by him- self) consisted too much of salt provisions, with hard biscuits instead of bread. This diet, combined with incessant work in teaching, and the debUitatiug climate, brought on indigestion in its most aggravated form. He became too weak to perform any duty, or even to go out : and the Indians, who were not admitted to his house, and knew not the cause of his seclusion, gradually withdrew from the place, taking with them their children. In this sad plight he would certainly have died without one friendly hand to close his eyes ; and was indeed stretched on his bed awaiting death, when a kind Providence sent unexpected relief. A Christian Araw4k from the Pomeroon Mission, who was voyaging alone in his little canoe, found himself at nightfall near Waramuri. He thought that he would land, pay his respects to the mis- sionary, and perhaps stay there that night. To his astonishment he found the place deserted ; there were neither the usual fires nor the people. He then went up to the mission-house, and heard low groans from within. Having forced his way in through a window, Creole "peasantry and settlers, and may be even seen on the thatched partitions of the Indian dwellings near the coast. They aid our efforts in enlarging the circle of their ideas, and I consider their effect as most civilizing and beneficial. REVIVAL OF WABAMUBI MISSION. 241 lie found Mr. Wadie as above described, wbo thank- fully, -with feeble voice, accepted his offered services. Being told by him that he would probably find some Indians at a neighbouring settlement, he took a light, and, following the path indicated, went through the bush to seek them. He found two men, who, on hearing his tale, immediately took down their ham- mocks, caught up their paddles, and hastened with him to remove their sick teacher. The mission had a boat with a good tent, in which the three men placed him ; but it was too large and heavy for such a slender crew ; and the passage over the sea against wind and tide was very painful and tedious to the poor sufferer. At length he reached Pomeroon, and was most kindly received, first by some hospitable ladies on a small plantaia estate called PhoenLx Park, in the lower district ; and the next night at the Pomeroon Mission. On the fourth day he reached my residence, and we were astonished and alarmed at his emaciated and ghastly appearance. Medical aid was soon obtained, but an attempt to administer medicine gave his ulcerated stomach such agony that the doctor desisted, telling us that, if his life were saved, it could be, humanly speaking, by nursing only. He had taken nothing but milk, which was fortunately obtainable at each station, since he left Waramuri, and could bear no other sustenance. For many days he lay between life and death : but at length, by God's blessing, we saw symptoms of returning strength. In a few weeks he was B 242 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. able to bear a voyage to Georgetown ; and under the kind care and hospitality of the Archdeacon and his brother, Mr. J. Jones, of Plantation Houston, he then recovered rapidly. By the end of the year he was again ready for duty ; and, though other work was oflPered, he would not resign his Indian mission, but returned to it with unabated zeal. The Archdeacon and myself visited him in the following April, and were pleased to see that he had greatly relaxed his habit of seclusion ; and that an excellent feeliag was existing between him and the Indians, who now understood him, appreciated his devotion, and applied to him for aid in every emer- gency. A corpse had that evening been brought for burial (which cannot in the tropics be delayed), and he was making a coffin for it of some boards intended for the chapel floor. It was late; and though the Archdeacon lent a hand at the coffin, and in preparing the grave, the interment did not take place tin towards midnight. The mission-school was flourishing, and at that period numbered more than one hundred Indian children. How Mr. Wadie delighted in this part of his work, may be seen from his own words ui one of his last reports to the society which had sent him out : — " I shall never forget the gladsome manner in which the children raUied around me on my return to the mission, after my late long and almost fatal iUness. Few can mistake the simple honest-heartedness of a REVIVAL OF WABAMUBI MISSION. 243 child, especially the children I have to deal with; one look told me more than words could do, and their ready compliance to do all I may ask them is another proof of their sincerity and attachment. The children who attend the school come from various districts of the mission, although they may be said to reside at Waramuri, as they only go to their re- spective places for a supply of food, or for a few days occasionally. I am glad to inform you also that there is a feeling of pride exhibiting itself among the adults of this mission, as to the proper and decent appearance of their children, both at the day and Sunday schools. Many children are kept away at this time, on account of their parents not being able to clothe them like the others. This I have endeavoured to remedy, as far as I can afford it, by quarterly giving to a few of them clothing ; but cannot do so as effectually as I could wish from want of means, as I supply out of my salary aU that is necessary for the working of the schools. I do here everything for myself, so that I may devote a portion of my stipend every quarter to the benefit of the mission, either by clothing children, finding books, or as the case may be. And this I firmly believe, that every missionary who has truly his work at heart, will in every possible way deny himself to advance the interest of Christ's kingdom among the people where he is placed." In the same report he mentions the better ob- servance- of the Lord's day, " Very few of the Indians now devote the time between school and the service E 2 244 TRE INDIAN TBIBE8 OF- aXJIANA. of the Churcli as heretofore to making 'quakes' (baskets) for holding fish, or sails for their corials, or in preparing ita-palm leaves for making hammocks/' After describing his method of combining the Araw^k and Caribi translations I had given him with the ordinary instruction to those tribes in English in his Sunday-school, he states his intention of "making an attempt to supply the same to the Warau in his own tongue." This was greatly needed in that district, which is chiefly inhabited by Waraus, but ere he felt himself qualified by study to com- mence the task his strength had given way. In September 1857, the Bishop found a congrega- tion of 271 Indians, while 133 children were present in the school. But the missionary's health had again broken down, his head being at times seriously affected by his returning malady, and he was reluctantly compelled to resign his post. His labours, always energetic, had during the last year been even more abundant ; they had been also more wisely directed and effectual, and the Indians of all the tribes regretted his de- parture, as they had that of Mr. Nowers eleven years before. After a short period of duty with me in Trinity parish, and afterwards in St. Paul's, Demerara, Mr. Wadie died in Georgetown, at the house of his good friend. Archdeacon Jones. At the Pomeroon Mission, our venerable catechist, Mr. Landroy, after more than a year and a half of lingering decay, died soon after. Thus within a REVIVAL OF WABAMUBI MISSION. 245 short period I had to mourn the loss of both my fellow-labourers in the Indian field. Both missions were again vacant. The elder station, my own old post, after a period of comparative pro- sperity, had been nearly crushed by three years of various kinds of sickness, as related in the last chapter. The other, which had previously suffered such great depression, and been abandoned six years out of nine, had, as we have just seen, suddenly revived, and begun to flourish greatly, when it was deprived of its missionary, just as the seed which had been sown by his predecessors and himself seemed ripening to the harvest. The Chxirch, looking on this part of her work, could but see that these things were, in appearance, against her. Still she had met with many encouragements, as well as great difficulties, And as high above the consideration of either rose the Master's great com- mand, " Teach all nations," our duty was, through good and evil, still to persevere. " Faint, yet pursuing." CHAPTER IV. PEOaKESS. Indians take down and remove their Chapel in one Day — Pro- gress — Superstitions of the "Waraus, and Impostures practised^, on them — ^Their Hahits, &c. After the various trials and losses related in the last two chapters, the Indian tribes in our vicinity enjoyed - a period of comparative tranquillity. Children grew up, and new faces began to fill the gaps which death had made. The handsome little chapel at the junction of the Arapaiaco with the Pomeroon had not been built twenty years ; yet it had become so decayed and eaten by wood-ants as to compel the erection of a new one. We decided to quit that spot, which, though rendered picturesque by the meeting of the waters, was only accessible from the river, and to build a new chapel on Cabacaburi hill. The Indians, at my request, readily cut and squared the timbers for the frame ; the work being divided among the respective tribes, so that each might con- tribute its allotted portion. But to provide boards, &c., was beyond their power ; and, as it was desirable PBOaBESS. 247 to make use of the sound portions of the old build- ing as far as we could, I begged them to assist in taking it down, and bringing the materials to the site proposed for the new one. To this they readily con- sented. Accordingly, the next morning they turned out with their axes, and went to the chapel in a flotUla of canoes of all sizes, headed by Cornelius, who, though now grown old, had lost none of his energy and zeal. Pemberton, a man of colour, who acted as lay-reader, and was an experienced carpenter, directed and led their labour in taking the building to pieces. These they brought to the hill in their little craft, — benches, shingles, boards, uprights, and other timbers ; the women and children, with many a merry laugh, receiving the loads at the water-side, and dragging them up the hill. As the day wore on ■their interest in the work increased : some put up handkerchiefs of various colours, which served as flags, and drew attention to their little canoes reeling under preposterously unwieldy loads, as they came again and again with fresh supplies. Thus the whole buiding (except one load, which remained till the next day, and some rotten timbers) was removed to the mission hill, a distance of one mile, before sunset, by the united labour of the Indian tribes, who on that 20th of April, 1858, certainly seemed moved by God to do aE in their power for the erection of a building for the glory of His Name. When I . returned to the spot the next week (after visiting the other stations) I found that Pemberton had erected the frame of the chancel of the new 248 TSE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA.' building; and that the Indians, to enable me to perform the service of tbat one day, bad covered it in with a thatch of the leaves of the trooly-pahn. WhUe thanking them, I told them that "the state of our funds caused me to despair of gettiag a roof of better materials." They aU seemed disappoirited at this announcement, though they acquiesced in the silent manner of Indians, as to a thing for which there was no help. But Cornelius, who had set his heart on having a thoroughly good and suitable house for the worship of God, assembled the leading men that evening; and, unknown to me, held a consultation with them in the partly-built place of worship by moonlight. The result of this was a deputation to express to me their regret " that the roof of God's house was to be of thatch — -no better than their own !" They offered to try to make shingles instead, if I could find money to pay for putting them on. The Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, Mr. W. Walker, soon after hearing of this circumstance, kindly gave the amount required. Meanwhile the Indians cut down the waUaba-trees, and split them into shingles ; though they had not before attempted that kind of work, and had to use their cutlasses for the want of more suitable tools. Soon after this the lay-reader died. His place was supplied by an Englishman, named Thomas Minns. He was then about seventy years of age, and had been a sailor in early life under Admirals CoUingwood and Duckworth. He had been with the latter in the PROGRESS. 24& action of the Dardanelles; and was the last man saved from the Ajax, burnt February 14th, 1807, He told me that he was then in a most perilous position, hanging by the jib-boom of the blazing vessel, while a poor woman below was clinging to the martingale. The latter being observed from one of the boats of the fleet, which had all withdrawn to await the explosion of the magazine, the brave tars, with shouts of " Save the woman ! " pulled again under the bows to take her ia, and afforded him the opportunity of dropping in also. He had since then visited many climes, and experienced many vicissitudes by sea and land ; and now desired to end his pilgrimage in the service of religion among the Indians. He had become very deaf, but his voice was strong and clear, and, untU his death at the age of seventy-seven, he read the Holy Scriptures and the daily prayers in a manner that for reverence and distinctness left nothing to be desired. Meanwhile Mr. D. Campbell had offered his services as teacher among the Waraus and other tribes at Wara- muri, and we now, after our various calamities and losses by disease and death in that quarter, began to reap some fruit from the seed sown fourteen years before. Many were baptized, and a little band of communicants was formed there. But from that time also the Indian sorcerers, who are so powerful among the Waraus, used every artifice to excite superstitious terror, and keep their tribe from joining us, and in this they were but too successful. 250 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. Some of their artifices were of the most absurd character ; so ridiculous indeed that we could but wonder at the impudence which invented, and the credulity which believed in them. An instance occurred in March, 1863, just after the Bishop had visited the mission and met many Waraus there. To counteract the effects of his visit the foUolnng plan was adopted : — A Warau woman of singularly weird appearance was employed to spread a report that she had seen, near a place called Kamwatta (or " the bamboo ") the figure of a white man on horseback, riding through the air, who promised to give money and other valuable presents to her, and to all of her tribe who would assemble at that spot and dance from early morning till early afternoon. But, as Chris- tianity would be an efi"ectual barrier to the reception of that supernatural benefit, all baptized persons were warned not to attend. This, while it marked the animus of the impostors in disparaging the Chris- tians, would also tend to save the credit of their prophetess, as none of her dupes could positively say that one of the forbidden might not be lurking near, and so preventing the expected benefit. The result of this ridiculous story was a gathering in great force of the heathen Waraus, who made and drank paiwari ; and daily, during the pre- scribed hours, obeyed the mandate they had received. Warau dancing is in general more grotesque than elegant ; as it chiefly consists in staggering backwards and forwards with the body slightly bent, and PBOaBESS. 251 Stamping violently on the ground : but it was kept up on this occasion with a vigour and perseverance that might have atoned for its want of grace, and fairly earned the expected reward. But, dance as lustily as they would, the aerial horseman remained invisible, and made no sign. " There was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded." They reaped no pecuniary emolu- ment, but had only their dances for their pains. At length they dispersed to their homes, there to rest their wearied limbs, get over their disappointment and the effects of the paiwari ; and, — after a while, — lend a willing ear to the next delusion of their sorcerers. Mr. Campbell, taking with him Hubbard, the Christian chief of the Moruca Arawaks, went to Kamwatta while this imposture was going on, hoping to reason with and convince them of their folly : — a hazardous attempt in their then excited state. He met seven men fishing in the stream, and found six women in a house baking cassava bread. These were providing food for the merry dancers, who were in the depth of the forest. But neither the men nor the women would give the least information to guide him to their rendezvous ; and as the Arawaks were unac- quainted with the locality, he was obliged to return, rightly judging, however, that if the dancers were some hundreds in number, as he had been told, a scarcity of cassava would, in a few days, break up the assembly. Although the crafty inventors of schemes so clumsy 252 TEE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. (as this appears to ns) could not stop the progress of the mission, they nevertheless, among a people so very credulous as those poor Waraus, contrived seri- ously to retard it ; for scarcely was one delusion ended than another was set on foot. The next year, while our Christian Indians were preparing to celebrate the high festival of Christmas, and a great number of heathens were assembled to join them, a report was spread that the Spaniards (as the Venezuelan half-breeds of the mission of Santa Rosa and their countrymen are called) were about to attack the mission at Waramuri, and slay aU the Indians there, in revenge for the death of a man killed in a quarrel some time before. In vain the teacher assured them that there was no truth in the report. The Indians of the other tribes believed him, and remained quietly .to celebrate the nativity of the Prince of Peace ; but the Waraus decamped with great celerity, as the inventors of the report had rightly judged they would. Not only were our expec- tations disappointed of the good they might have received from that day's services and instruction, but their attendance was prevented and rendered irregular for a considerable time after. The enemy thus worried and impeded what he could not destroy, and made our labour more painful and difficult with the Waraus than with any tribe we had yet reached, save the haughty and indolent Caribs. Their superstitions are in themselves a great barrier, but this is increased, as we have seen, by the PMOaBHSS. 253 drunkenness attending their assemblies, which is encouraged by their sorcerers, in opposition to the sobriety which the Gospel enjoins. To these impedi- ments we must also add theii- reckless improvidence. The beautiful ita or Mauritia^ palm, with its crown of fan-like leaves waving over the swamps among which he dwells, is the refuge and support of the Warau in aU times of scarcity. Having that to fall back upon he is too often careless in cultivating the land and raising more wholesome food. The ripening of a cassava field is frequently the signal for a great paiwari-making ; and its produce, the Indian's staff of life, is speedily converted into the means of in- toxication. Hence arise the savage murders from time to time committed among them, in which the poor women are usually the victims. Their fondness for intoxicating drink has long been taken advantage of by unscrupulous men, who have * "The Mauritia yields numerous articles of food. Before the tender spathe unfolds its blossoms on tlie male palm, and only at that particular period of vegetahle metamorphosis, the medullary portion of the trunk is found to contain a sago-like meal, which, Kke that of the jatropha (or cassava) root, is dried in thiu bread-like slices. The sap of the tree, when fermented, constitutes the sweet inebriatiag palm-wine of the Guaranes (Waraus). The narrow scaled fruit, which resembles reddish pine- cones, yields different articles of food, according to- the period at which it is gathered, whether its saccharine properties are fuUy matured, or whether it is still in a farinaceous condition. Thus, in the lowest grades of man's development, we find the existence of an entire race dependent upon almost a single tree, like certain insects which are confined to particular portions of a flower." — HuMBOiiDT's Views of Nature. 254 TEE INDIAN TRIBES OF aUIANA. gone among tliem to bring out gangs for cutting wood or clearing bush on the plantations ; using, as their means of attraction, large quantities of rum. After a debauch they would take them while still under the influence of the liquor, for an Indian in that state will follow it anywhere. After two or three months' worli, attended with small profit, they would be taken back, and another gang procured in the same way. Labour thus conducted has been a curse and not a blessing to the Waraus. It is only by the spread of Christian knowledge that such evils can be overcome. About the end of 1863 the Indian tribes from the far-distant interior began to visit our two stations. Horde after horde of wild-looking people, belonging to races which we had scarcely heard of, began to gather themselves together in the higher lands within or without our western boundary; and to come by journeys of some weeks' duration, that they might learn somewhat of the truths of Christianity. These events were quite unexpected by us. We could not have anticipated them. Like one or two already related, they were the result of apparently spontaneous movements among the people themselves, the course of which will be described in the next chapter. CHAPTER V. THE KAPOHK. Eetrospect — The Acawoios of Barahma duped hy the false Prophet of 1845 — ^Their Eetuin — Their Coming to us — Arrival of sus- picious-looking Strangers — Unexpected Eesult — Coming of distant Acawoios, Arecunas, Maiongkongs, &c. — Great Gather- ing iu 1865 — Sketch of their Character, &c., and of the Eegions inhabited by them. The word Kapohn (or Kapong) whicli, like tlie " Carinya " of the Caribs, in the language of the Aca- woios signifies "the people/' is that by which they designate the various branches of their widely- extended and enterprising race. ' Their language, with its dialectic variations, is spread over a vast territory, and they are either allied by blood, or have intercourse and traffic, with many other tribes within and without our boundaries. In a former chapter we noticed the coming over to us of several families of the Acawoio nation. The circumstances which led to their coming, and the results which followed, will be best understood if given in a connected narrative, though in so doing we must necessarily go back many years. In 1841 I had visited some of this tribe, who then resided at the distance of two days' journey from the 256 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. mission. That visit (related in tlie first part of this work) had little immediate efi"ect, as they migrated soon after to the Bssequibo, where the labours of Mr. Youd, Mr. Bernau, and others, had already attracted some of their brethren. That period was one of great enterprise. Schom- burgk, starting from the coast of Guiana, had just before penetrated, through strange desert regions, and races little known, to Esmeralda, on the Orinoco. Missionary zeal was aroused to evangelize the Indian tribes throughout the territory thus laid open to us. And not without effect, for though the labourers sent into this wide field were only two or three ia number, and they sinking at their posts from time to time, rumours of the word they preached spread far and wide among the various races, and greatly excited many who had no opportunity of hearing it themselves. Far away from all civUized settlements, on the banks of the Upper Waini, and its beautiful tributary _ the Barahma, there were many Acawoios then re- siding, who heard rumours of what was taking place in other parts of the country, and had their minds aroused thereby. Their habitations, being very dis- tant, had never been visited by any missionary ; but our enterprising Post-holder used to undertake long overland journeys on foot to their settlements. To him they repeatedly applied for the establishment of a mission among themselves, and so anxious were they, that they cleared an eligible site, and erected fifty cottages, hoping that a teacher might be sent THE KAPOHN. 257 to them: a circumstance -which he reported to the Governor. Though their hopes were disappointed, the desire of those Barahma Acawoios for the knowledge of God continued unabated. We cannot, therefore, greatly wonder that when, in 1845, they received a message from the impostor in the distant interior, who pre- tended to be the Lord come down from heaven, summoning all Indians to his presence, they should readily have fallen into the snare, I have already related^ the circumstances of that imposture, which the reader will not confound with the petty delusions practised many years after on the Waraus, and related in the last chapter. The latter were influenced only by sordid feelings, and under- went no privations; but with the victims of the great imposture of 1845-6 the case was difierent. Though aU were grossly deceived, many among them acted from motives which were certainly of a reli- gious character, and entitled to the respect, and even sympathy, of Christians : for they had heard strange rumours of a Christ once on earth, declaring the Great Father's will, and again to come from heaven ; but of the warnings He has left us against " false Christs and false prophets," who should " deceive, if possible, even the elect," they had not heard. So Indians from all parts went to the appointed spot. The movement even affected the Caribs in Pomeroon and the neighbouring rivers in a partial degree. Among the more distant Acawoios it was 1 Part I. cliap. xi. S 258 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. general, and none more willingly undertook that long and toilsome journey " to .see God," as they said, than those of the Barahma. Under their chief, Capui (the Moon), they set out with their wives and little children for a far distant land, where they were told to expect earthly plenty and salvation from destruction. They crossed the river Cujruni in " wood-skins," by the aid of their countrymen there ; and, being assisted by them at every settlement they came to, according to the fraternal custom of their tribe, after several weeks' journey they arrived at the abode of the my^sterious personage who had summoned them, near the head of the Masaruni. As they approached that place they saw, to their surprise, bananas growing without apparent cultiva- tion; a convincing proof to them that they had at length reached the land so highly blessed by " Mako- naima," the great Lord and Maker of all. They found multitudes of Indians, of their own and other nations, there assembled, who all listened with deep and superstitious awe to the oracular man- dates and denunciations which proceeded by night from the false prophet's chamber, and were trying to keep up their spirits against the approaching end of the world which he threatened, by dancing and drinking paiwari as fast as their poor women could make it. At that place they stayed some months, in vain expectation of something more satisfactory to their souls than that which they saw and heard. At length TSE KAPOHN. 259 the conviction that they had been duped could no longer bfe resisted. In sadness and despondency, therefore, they retraced their steps, through a country which had become parched by the terrible drought of that year ; and at last reached their deserted abodes and grass-grown fields in Barahma, after an absence of about twelve months. A document, cunningly inscribed with hieroglyphic characters, had been given to their chief on his de- parture, which he was told was a corn-mission from Makonaima, the Almighty, to collect and send to that place all the Indians he could gather. But, as they now attributed their delusion to the direct agency of Satan, they feared to keep that scroll in there possession, and got rid of it as soon as they dared. They had suffered much from fatigue, and after- wards by hunger, in consequence of that imposture ; but their desire to acquaint themselves with the true God was not in the least damped thereby. They were just as ready as before to undergo privations, and leave their ancient homes, could they thereby draw nearer to Him; but they knew not whither to turn. To me there has been some- thing very touching in the remembrance of the earnest desire of those untaught Indians in the midst of the darkness which they felt; their sajdng, by actions more than by words, " Oh that T knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat." A few years afterwards a cousin of Capui, who bore the name of Ingles (or English), was induced S 2 260 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. ■by a Christian Acawoio, named Edwin, wlio visited them, to accompany him to the little Scotch mission, which had been quietly working during those years at Indiana, in Supenaam, near the mouth of the Essequibo. From thence he came over to the Pome- roon, learning all he could of Christianity on his way, and on his return to Barahma, his account of what he had seen and learned induced his people to undertake another migration-^this time to cast in their lot with us. Capui had died in the interval ; and his brother, who had taken the name of Hendrick, was now their leader. Being in some doubt as to the reception they might meet with at the mission, he wisely applied first to Mr. M'Clintock, who, knowing their history and the sincerity of their motives, gave them a letter to Mr. Landroy, our resident teacher, who was then living, recommending him to receive them. The other Indians regarded them with great dis- trust, from the dread which the evil name of their tribe inspired, and which their famous gathering in the far interior had by no means tended' to diminish. The new-comers soon saw that they were objects of suspicion to the others ; and accordingly put up their humble lodging-places in the yard of the mission-house, thus placing themselves and their children (whom they hoped to see educated) imme- diately under the eye of the teacher and his family. I visited the mission about this time, and was pleased to see those strangers (numbering about fifty, THE KAEOHN. 261 of all ages) so anxiously desirous of CKristian instruc- tion. But liow to impart it was the difficulty, as their language was strange to us. Ingles was their spokesman, but he knew so little of English that he could not understand me when speaking of Christian truths, and I could make nothing of the Kapohn or Acawoio. The teacher's family then tried him with the Creole-Diitch, but that also was a .failure. We were " barbarians " to each other : his people were standing around much concerned, and I was begin- ning to despair of any immediate good result, when- he suddenly addressed me by my usual Araw^k title, " Adaieli," and begged me to speak in the language of the " Lokono," as he could partly converse in it, having had much intercourse with Arawiks in his youth. This was most fortunate, as on my departure I could put him into the hands of Cornelius, with the certainty that he would be well cared for. In that way — mainly through the medium of a third tongue — the rudiments of Christian knowledge were imparted, with profit to them and satisfaction to us. The fear of danger from the new-comers was fast dying away, when a report was spread among the tribes of the massacre of the inhabitants of an Arawak settlement at Etooni, on the Berbice, by some Acawoios (or Waikas) who, according to their, custom, attacked the place by night, slaying all they could, without mercy to sex or age. It was believed that the mur- derers had . been hired and brought from Essequibo by persons of the same nation as the victims, who had 262 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. animosity against the head-man of the place, but lacked courage to attack him themselves. He had been a hard drinker, and it was found that, in deri- sion of that propensity, the assassins had placed an empty flask under his arm, after completing their bloody work. This report was soon after confirmed in its main points by the colony newspapers, the matter having been investigated by the Government. This crime, perpetrated by men of their own nation, as they were considered, greatly increased the dis- comfort of the new-comers at our mission, by reviving the distrust with which the other tribes regarded them. But they behaved themselves wisely and weUjgave ofi"ence to none, and made more progress, considering their disadvantages, than any Indians we had yet seen. They spent their leisure time at the mission, where they had placed their children at school, but made their fields on the banks of the Arapaiaco, which was then nearly denuded of its Araw4k inhabitants by the mortality which had recently prevailed amongst them. In a few years they were baptized, not all at once, but successively, as they became prepared. I shall not soon forget the occasion of the baptism of Hendrick and his wife, with many of the young people. There were nine young females, nearly all of the same age, and bearing a strong family likeness, whose clean white muslin dresses, neatly arranged hair, and general appearance, were a great contrast to the condition in which I first beheld them, and showed a rapid progress in civilization. TBE KAFOHN. 263 They were very quiet and serious in their demean- our ; gentle and affectionate to each other ; and so attentive to religious duties that it seemed to us almost impossible that they could be of the same blood with those of whom we heard such reports from time to time. But quiet resolution and strength of purpose seem to be characteristic of this more than of any other aboriginal tribe ; and they enter thoroughly into whatever business they take in hand, whether it be for evil or for good. So at least we found it with this clan, then separate from all their brethren. Having believed and em- braced- Christianity they were evidently trying to live up to it. Of those who first came to us, there remained, in a few years, not one unbaptized, nor a couple unmarried ; and the young people, as each became old enough, ratified their baptismal vows, and were confirmed by the Bishop in his successive visitations, preparatory to approaching the Table of the Lord. The Arawiks and Caribs at our missions at that time possessed over these Acawoios the advantage not only of knowing more English, but also of having various little translations which I had made for the benefit of those individuals (very numerous in the purely Indian territory) who could not understand it. The Lord's Prayer, Apostles' Creed, &c., had been printed in those two languages by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, on a sheet with an illustrated border, representing, in small medallions, some of the chief events of the Old Testament history 264 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. and tlie life of our Lord. Some hundreds of these had been distributed, but as yet the Acawoios • had nothing of the kind. One of their young men, named Philip, the son of their late chief Capui, became desirous of benefiting his own people in a similar way. To accomplish his purpose,' he went and lived some months in the country of the Caribs, whose language approaches nearest to his own ; and when he found himself able to translate their creed into Acawoio, he offered his services to me, which, I need scarcely say, were accepted with equal joy and surprise. This was in 1861. The Society, with its usual liberality, soon after printed for us several hundred copies of the illustrated sheets in Acawoio, and also in Warau, which latter translation I had been enabled (after experiencing . great difficulty from, the poverty of that language and other causes) to complete about the same time. Our Acawoios had lived in comparative isolation from the rest of their nation about ten years, since they first came to us. But in the year 1863 this isolation was broken by a movement among their heathen countrymen, which at first gave us some anxiety. In. the month of August, in that year, a rumour reached Waramuri, where I then was, that the Acawoios and their allies in the distant interior had risen in arms, and were approaching the missions, destroying the Indian settlements on their way. Mr. Campbell and myself set it down as one of those panics which continually arise among the Indians THE KAPOHN. 265 from the dightest causes, and it proved to be untrue," though, a movement of some kind was really going on. "WTien I reached the Pomeroon Mission on my return, however, I found that the Christian Acawoios had taken to flight the morning before, alarmed at the appearance of a party of their heathen country- men, who had arrived at the mission in the darkness, and were discovered hovering about their open houses at the first faint gleam of approaching day. This party consisted of an old man and four others, who seemed to be his sons ; aU being very wild, and adorned in savage style. Our people recognised the old man as belonging to a family which, in the prosecution of a feud, had sought the blood of their fathers for some generations, and considering their object to be assassination, and not knowing how many supporters they might have at hand, judged it best to seek present safety by a hasty retreat. The wHd strangers then took possession of their houses, caught a fowl, and kUled it for their break- fast. Apparently regarding all around as lawful spoil, they were proceeding to scatter Indian corn and catch the other poultry which they saw near, when the schoolmistress claimed them, and they desisted at her request. For three or four days they kept the mission in great uneasiness, hovering about and showing them- selves from time to time. During that period, how- ever, they had full opportunity of seeing the mission chapel - school, and what was doing there. The 266 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. Indian children reading English struck them with amazement, and they felt a desire, and were invited, to share the same advantages. From the time of the visit of those strangers, the Acawoios from the far-distant interior began to come to our two missions. To that in Pomeroon there came in the following year many from the Cuyuni, who had a long over- land journey to accomplish in order to reach us. They had come to see and judge for themselves ; and when they left they took with them a number of the illustrated sheets from which they had been taught at the mission. " In seven months," they said, " we shall have reaped our provisions in Cuyuni, and we will then come and live with you." One poor old woman preferred to stay behind, fearing that if she undertook the fatigues of that long journey she might not live to return. At the sister mission of Waramuri there was a similar influx. A few Acawoios, who had embraced Christianity, had been already living there for some time, of whom Hughes (who killed the large black tiger, as I have mentioned in a former chapter) was the chief. There had been no prospect of any addi- tion to their numbers, for there were no more withia several days' journey. But now there suddenly came from the Waini and its tributary streams almost as many as had come to Pomeroon from the Cuyuni; and the class of Aca- woios receiving instruction at that mission suddenly increased from five or six to sixty. TSE KAF03N. 267 The teachers and people at both stations were surprised at this movement. " We did not fetch these people, but God hath brought them to us," was the remark of all. It soon appeared as if the Acawoios, by their ex- tensive intercourse with other tribes, held the key of the interior, and were doing their best to bring the other nations to the knowledge of the great truths of Christianity. Those who visited Waramuri brought with them some of the very distant tribe of Maiong-kongs : and a few months later there came to the same mission a large party, about seventy in number, of mixed Acawoios and (to our surprise) Arecunas. The latter, whom we had not seen before, had journeyed from the high lands between the heads of the Cuyuni and the Caroni, a large tributary of the Orinoco. They had come from thence to the head of the AVaini, where they had cut down some large trees and made " wood-skin " canoes, as they are called. These wood- skins are formed by stripping off the bark of the mariwayani, or purple- heart, in one large piece, forcing it open in the middle, and fixing sticks across it : — idownward sUts being cut near the extremities, which are supported on beams tUl the bark be dry, to give them a slight spring above the surface of the water. In those frail barks they had descended the Waini, and come through the connecting streams to our mission. . Those strangers were fine stalwart men, with clear copper-tinted skins, and larger in person than the 268 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. Indians near the coast. Though not greatly encum- bered with clothing, they possessed unusual attractions in . the way of ornament. They wore long sticks through the cartUage of the nostrils, and had still longer ones, very handsomely adorned with tufts of black feathers at the extremities, fixed through their ears. Evidently they were most attentive to their per- sonal, appearance, and they made a great sensation. For our Indians, unaccustomed to such an extreme style of adornment, were alarmed at the sight ; the Waraiis especially, who, with their usual cowardice, im- mediately quitted the mission, and did not return ia any numbers till the stalwart strangers had departed. The Arecunas, however, though formidable in ap- pearance, behaved like amiable savages, and as soon as they saw the alarm their presence had excited, they laid aside such of their cherished ornaments as they could. But both sexes had their countenances much tattooed, and those facial ornaments were, of course, indelible. Some of the women had the dark blue lines traced across the upper lip, and extending in wavy curves over either cheek, resembling immense curled moustachios ; but the favourite style seemed to be a broad line round the mouth, so wide that each lip appeared to be an inch broader, and the aper- ture itself two inches longer than nature had made it. Those apparently enormous mouths could not be laid aside, nor had the poor creatures, otherwise fine- looking women, any means of procuring clothes, to soften the disagreeable impression produced. THE KAPOHN. 269 But, barbarous as tbe appearance of both men and women might seem to us, there was no mistaking their single-minded purpose. They stayed at the mission, attending prayers acd instruction, till their means of subsistence were exhausted. During the , last few days I paid my usual visit, and they were taught by some zealous young Acawoios of my crew : one of whom, named Thomas, had a fair knowledge of the English New Testament, and was engaged in com- municating it to them by night as well as by day. At length it was necessary to pronounce the final blessing ; and while we turned the head of our boat down the river towards the cultivated coast, they embarked ia their wood-skins, again to thread the network of streams, re-ascend the Waini, and return overland to their far distant homes : — there to spread, 'as we humbly trusted, the knowledge at least of their Saviour's name, in a part of the interior as yet 'unexplored by civilized man. The brother of one of our recent Acawoio converts was murdered about this time on the banks of Mana- wariu. The deed was perpetrated by a " Kanaima " devotee, in the usual manner, and close to the Indian settlement. A loud shout was heard in the forest, and when the friends of the victim ran to the spot, they found him on the ground, with his back and neck bruised, but not bleeding. He had been de- prived of speech by the murderer according to the cruel system followed in those criraes (which are per-" petrated, where possible, according to strict rule), and left to linger till death released him. A Carib in 270 THE INDIAN TRIBES OP QUIANA. another district was also said to have been murdered not long before. These things account for the frequent panics among the Indians. In the former instance the deed was thought to be in fulfilment of a threat of the heathen sorcerers, to "kanaima" in detail aU the Acawoios and others who dared to attend Christian instruction, either at our missions or at Supenaam. In August following, our good Bishop again visited the missions. This visit was remarkable beyond former ones for the great numbers of Indians assem- bled at each station. At Cabacabufi about 600 must have been present — at Waramuri there were many more : 881 of five nations having been counted at one time. Stragglers, and those who came after, made the total number approach 1,000. A new chapel had been erected at the latter mission, the Indians there also having contributed ex- cellent timber for the frame, and given their labour freely in its erection. But it could not hold one- half the number present at its opening, and hundreds were standing in groups outside. We were three days at this mission, unceasingly engaged in examining cate- chumens, administering holy ordinances, and giving instruction to the different nations (for the latter purpose taking each separately), and it was an un- speakable comfort to us that each person had heard something of Divine truth in his own tongue ere he departed. My young Acawoios showed their usual zeal, and we saw them from a distance teaching their people by moonlight as before. THE KAPOHN. 271 The children at this mission had been accustomed from the days of their late kind teacher, Mr. Wadie, to have an annual fite, the amusements being such {IS Indians "would engage in, — archery, foot-races, and leaping. Our Campus Martius was a clear sandy space between the chapel and the mission-house. On this occasion we had more than two hundred archers, every young man present bringing his bow. I am rather ashamed to mention the prizes, which were of less intrinsic value than the corruptible crown of the Isthmian games, and by no means so elegant, being either salt fish, or sUver coins of different value, according to the excellence of the shot ; — the former, of which the Indians are very fond, being preferred by them. The target was also shabby, though the best we could extemporize, being a piece of dark paste- board, with a circle and bull's-eye marked with chalk, in the absence of paint. . In the shooting, we were glad to see the boys of the mission-school distinguish themselves, one of them first piercing the white, and showing the assembled Indians that instruction in Christian truth, and the acquired power of reading and writing the English language in some degree, did not make their sons worse marksmen. After several rounds from each man and boy, the archery contest closed by a simultaneous discharge of arrows from every bow. More than two hundred shafts flying through the air together presented a novel spectacle, and in an instant demolished the target, amidst loud shouts from all. A dog, which 272 THE INDIAN TBIBES OF GUIANA. unheeded had wandered behind it just before, was' sur- rounded by the crop of arrows which suddenly stuck in the sand, some even beneath him. He was a lucky dog, however, for with marvellous fortune he escaped unhurt ; though bewildered by the adventure, and the roar of applause which followed his somewhat hasty retirement, with deprecating look and drooping tail, from the arena. The wild rush and cry of those young men, as, headed by the Caribs, they sprang forward to recover their arrows, helped us to form some idea of those whirlwind-like onslaughts with which, in the bloody battles of former days, their fathers attacked each other ; and sometimes, rushing from an ambuscade, would cause the destruction of even veteran European soldiers. The next day the Bishop, Mr. Campbell, and myself, started for the Waini, crossing the Moruca swamps, and proceeding afterwards through a series of streams, which at that season have no visible banks; the higher portions of the roots of the dense forest-trees appearing above the water, but scarcely any of the earth from which they grow. This is the nature of the whole district extending from the Pdmeroon to the great Orinoco, which was well called by ancient navigators " the wild coast ;"— a desolate region, which civilized man has not yet thought fit to occupy, but has left to the aboriginal inhabitants. Here and there, by ascending narrow and difficult creeks, you may find a spot a little more elevated, and an Indian shed in which you may sleep, but the borders of the THE KAPOHN. 273"^ rivers are in a state of inundation for many months during each year. The tide being against us in the Barimani on the- second day, we tried to land on a spot where the roots seemed somewhat higher, and tied a hammock between the trees for Mr. Campbell, who had fallen sick. But, though the Indians made a rude plat- form of sticks and branches beneath it, the damp compelled the invalid's return to the boat. Insects, however, appeared to thrive there, though man could not. Huge black forest spiders abounded, living in apparently friendly communities; and some golden- tinted threads of a web, with which I came in contact, were stout enough for me to bring away, wound on a paper as silk is wound. Above the mouth of the Barimani, the banks of the Waini become gradually higher, and the camping grounds good ; until in four or five days' voyage its romantic falls are reached.^ We were unable to extend our voyage so far. ^ Mr. M'Clintock, the only white man who has yet explored that comparatively uninown region, says that the Aqueari FaUs of the Waini differ from all others he has seen. Their height is about 25 feet, and their breadth about 750. The rocks over which they rush are formed into three steps, so very regular as to give them the appearance of masonry. Although the body of water here precipitated is very great, it has failed in, opening for itself a direct channel. This is partly owing to the great height of the lands immediately fronting the falls, but chiefly to the circumstance of their being faced throughout by immense boulders. The waters thus opposed, dashing against the boulders and receding with almost equal violence, have formed at the foot of the falls a basin about 300 yards square, which is always much agitated, and during heavy rains dangerous for small craft. T After 274 TSE INDIAN TRIBES OF GVIANA. Space would fail me were I to describe all the events of this (to us) most interesting, and, I may ^dd, fatiguing expedition. How on our return we g^^the boat firmly fi:sed in pusMng through the shallW swamp of Koraia, and aU had to labour for some hours amidst rain and thunder in forcing her on; hoW we next lost the proper channel, and fortunately recovered it just before .darkness came on ; how we collected all the inhabitants of Wakapoa who still remained in heathenism at a settlement opposite the scene of the great Maquarri dance of twenty-three years before, and the result of that meeting; with many other matters, we cannot here further describe. After the descending torrent has here exhausted its fury against the rocks, it escapes at last by a passage on the left side of not more than twelve or fifteen feet in width, the waters of which are strangely placid. This narrow passage, — so still, — so thickly shaded and gloomy, leads the voyager ascending the stream to imagine at the moment that he is entering some place still more dark and gloomy than the passage itself. This feeUng is soon dispelled. A trifling exertion of his boatmen will convey him, as if by magic, into a very different scene — the wide basin of foaming waters. Quartz abounds on the right side of these falls, and granite on the left. The land is very high, and on one side of the narrow gorge a delicious spring trickles from the summit, and offers its refreshing waters to the passers-by. The Indians, after passing these falls, ascend the Waini for six hours more, to a place called Emoti. Thence, crossing the Imataca range, they can descend into the valley of the Cuyuni. A journey of twenty hours brings them to the settlement of the Acawoio chief, — twelve hours more to the mouth of the Eruma on the Cuyuni, which is about sixteen hours' voyage from the penal settlement near the mouth of that river. THJS KAPOHN. 275 No such assemblies of Indians had been seen for many years as those we met on that occasion. Many had come from an immense distance : the Acawoios, who were thoroughly in earnest, having stirred up the other tribes. Serrawyk, their old white-bearded chief from Cuyuni, afterwards repeatedly undertook that fatiguing journey. The following account of the Kapohn, or Acawoios, is from the pen of Mr. M'Clintock, and the result of actual observation during an acquaintance of many years. It wUl be seen that, though so dreaded by the other tribes in their uncivilized and heathen state, they possess many domestic virtues for which they have not hitherto received credit. Mr. M'Clin- tock indeed considers them in this respect superior to aU other aboriginal races he has known. " The Acawoio Indians differ from other tribes in many points, a few of which are as follow : — First, , with respect to polygamy (so common to Caribs and Waraus, and, before the missions were established, equally so to Araw^ks), it is unknown among them.^ Secondly, no alliances are permitted before a suitable age. Thirdly, Acawoio women are decidedly vir- tuous, and attentive both in sickness and old age. After a birth the mother is relieved from every description of labour, even that of preparing food for her husband, for the space of five days ; not from any superstitious motive, however, but simply because an infant requires the mother's whole care and attention ^ Some few of the Waika branch of their nation are, however, said to practise it. T 2 276 TBE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. during that period. In their domestic arrangements the Acawoios are cleanly, and (like all the Indian tribes in this province) passionately fond of their children ; hospitable to every one ; and,' among themselves, generous to a fault. " Acawoios by themselves, unless much excited, seldom talk above a whisper ; and at their orgies (happily now of rare occurrence), however intoxicated they may be, never quarrel ; nay more, an angry look, as such, is never observable. On the whole, a more orderly and peaceably disposed people can scarcely be found anywhere. " Both sexes make almost continual use of tobacco, which may accoimt for their having, generally speaking, good teeth. " Their mode of preparing the ' weed' for chewing is as follows. They take from the stalk as many green leaves as will cover the pan on which their cassava is baked ; over this layer of tobacco-leaves they sprinkle salt, then another layer of green leaves, and salt as before ; this must be repeated tdl the whole becomes one inch or more in thickness. A slow fire is then applied to the pan, and after the cake (if such it may be called) is partially heated, it is removed, and distributed among a number of small calabashes, where it remains tdl ' quids ' be in demand ; not, however, to be chewed, but to be kept simply between the lips. By this method the teeth are preserved, hunger appeased (Indians always assure me of this, saying, ' When I have tobacco I never feel hungry'), and thirst is quenched." THE KAPOHN. ^Trj- Such is the account of those people given by- Mr. M'Clintock, whose various journeys, distant ex- peditions in their company, and long intercourse, have given him a most intimate acquaintance with them. The localities inhabited by the Acawoios extend from the Essequibo and its tributaries, westward and north-westwardi round to the heads of the Waini, Barahma, and Barima. Others live to the eastward on the Upper Demerara and Berbice. That branch of the Kapohn is called Waika' by some; others incorrectly give that name to the entire race. The Arecunas, mentioned in this chapter, dwell on the high table-land from which the castle-like rocks of Mount Roraima rise 7,500 feet above the level of the sea. The historians Montiero and Eibiero describe them as cannibals, and say that " they per- forate their ears, in which they wear haulms of grass ; and that they use quippos or knotted strings, like ^ " Guaica," as written by the Spaniards. There is a tribe of the same name, the people of which, as described by Humboldt, are of short stature, fair skins, and savage habits, and with a confederate tribe, the Guaharibos, prevented aU access to the sources of the Orinoco. Bridgrag the cataracts from rock to rock with lianas, and concealing themselves behind crags and trees on the steep banks, they directed their arrows, tipped with the most deadly ourali, against all strangers. Military expeditions were unable to ascend, and the Franciscan missionaries fared no better. I have not hitherto been able to ascertain whether those Guaicas are of the same race as ours, or accidentally resemble them in name. Schomburgk, coming from the eastward, was also prevented from reaching the sources of the Orinoco by the ferocity of the Kirishanas who infest that quarter. 278 THE INDI4N TRIBES OF GUIANA. tb,e Peruvians, by wliicli they communicate not only numbers but likewise sentences to each other." They certainly indulge to a considerable extent in the luxury of perforating and wearing strange ornaments in their ears, and they are said stUl to use the quippos ; b)it they are no longer cannibais. The Arecunas would seem to be very fond of orna- paents, and to use a greater variety than naost other tribes. Schomburgk, who visited their mountain country, speaks of a party as wearing in their ears birds' heads (chiefly those of the humming-bird), and a small creeper of a brilliant blue colour. Their girdles were of monkeys' hair. At one of their villages they made a great feast in honour of that traveller, who says, " Feasting and dancing by the natives, dressed in their gayest orna- ments, lasted the whole night ; and the constantly^ repeated burden of their song was, ' Horaima of the red rocks, wrapped in clouds, the ever-fertile source of streams.' " On that occasion there was a grand display of gorgeous plumes and head-dresses; the whole winged tribe having apparently been put in requisition to furnish forth the most brilliant of their feathers. They had also necklaces of monkeys' teetli, peccary teeth, and porcupines' quills, to which were attached long cotton fringes that hung down their backs, and suspended squirrel, toucan, and various other skins. We thought that the party who came to Wara- muri Mission were elaborately adorned for the visit, but they probably wore only their every-day attire. TSB KAPOHN. 279 It may assist the reader in forming some idea of the region from which our wild-looking visitors came, and of the various tribes which inhabit it, if he wHl, in imagination, place himself in some central spot, in the country of the Arecunas, for instance; the high land near Mount Eoraima.^ I Schomburgk's party Lad a fine view of Eoraima from an eleva- tion of 3,700 feet above the principal Arecuna village, Arawayam. Its steep sides rose to a height of 1,500 feet above them. Those sides, of compact sandstone, are as perpendicular as if erected with the plumb-line, and are overhung in part with low shrubs. The most remarkable feature of those rocks is the precipitation from their enormous heights of waters which flow in dififerent directions into three great rivers, the Amazon, Orinoco, and Essequibo. The whole scenery of that high and rocky watershed, and of the rivers which flow from it, is extremely grand and picturesque. HiUhouse, who explored a great part of the Masaruni, speaks of perpendicular cUfis 1,000 or 1,500 feet in height, which the traveller knows to be distant, but which seem as if in dangerous proximity. " Tou see all around you detached masses, apparently torn from those gigantic walls of nature, and expect every moment to see one of them block up the path before you, or cut ofi' your retreat." — The chaimel is at some places narrowed by those blocks, so that the canoe can barely pass, at others it widens into a shallow claret-coloured lake. — "At last you enter a capacious basin, black as ink, surrounded by a bold and extensive sandy shore, as white as chalk; and you hear a fall of water before you, but perceive no current, though there is a foam like yeast on the surface, which remains aU. day without visible alteration. On a more attentive examination you perceive at a distance a broken white line struggling through a cluster of gi'anite rocks, at the base of two quartz clififs of a mixed character, and this is the Fall of Macrebah." Some distance higher is the Fall of Coomarow, where the body of water descends from a (supposed) height of 600 feet. Eoraima is several "days " beyond this fall. The Cuyuni is not so picturesque as the Masaruni, but is even- more difficult and dangerous to ascend. 280; . TEE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. He would then have to the northward the sources of the Cuyuni ^nd some of its tributaries. That river describes a wide curve in its course, with many falls and rapids, untU it joins the Masaruni, and their united waters flow into the Essequibo. Many Acawoios dwell on the banks of the Cuyuni, and the Kamarokotos are located near its head. To the eastward of Koraima are the Masaruni and its tributaries, winding downwards to the north-east to meet the Essequibo. The following tribes are enumerated by Mr. M'Clintock as dwelling on or near that river : the Quatimko ; Yaramuna ; Etoeho ; Pcussonho ; Kovrm- rani ; Koukohinko ; and Skamana. The Cuyarako live near its head, and towards the Caroni. From inquiries I have made, most of these appear to be mere subdivisions of the Kapohn ; differing slightly in dialect and in other respects, and taking their names from the districts in which they dwell. Southward of Eoraima the great range of the Pa- caraima Mountains extends from east to west; and beyond it are the savannahs of the Eupununi, inha- bited by the Wabean or Wajpidana nation, the Macusis, mentioned in the former part of this work, the Atorais and others. On the west of Eoraima the Caroni takes its rise, and turning towards the north flows into the Ori- noco. Still farther to the west, on the Marewari and other streams near the head of the Orinoco, reside the Guinaus or Kenous, and the Mianko or Maiongkongs. THE KAPOHN. 281 With all the above nations the Acawoios are con- nected by blood or alliance, and hold continual intercourse. IfoTB. — The story, first mentioned by Orellana, of the existence of a tribe of Amazons, or women liTing separate from men, though receiving their visits at certain seasons, and only rearing female children, is firmly maintained by many of the Acawoios who profess to have visited the distant interior. La Condamine and Father Gili, who wrote during the last century, respectively notice them under the somewhat formidable titles of Coignantesecouima and Aikeambenanos. The latter speaks of them as living near the Cuchivero, but our Indians, when questioned by Mr. M'Clintock, placed them farther south, and nearer the Parima mountain range ; others have fancied that they live beyond the source of the Corentyn. Humboldt, who notices the accounts given of them, thought that they had probably some foundation in the circumstance of Indian women, deprived of their male protectors by the fortune of war, banding together for mutual defence and assistance. "Whatever foundation there may have been for this tale of the Amazons, unlike that of El Dorado it still exists, and may long survive among the Indian tribes. The adventurous knight-errant who would visit their supposed locality, to explode the legend or ascertain on what foundation it has rested, would have to pass through the land of the blow-pipe and arrows tipped with ourali, noiseless but deadly weapons in the hands of the wild mountaineers, whom Schomburgk, in his adventurous exploration, had to make many a tedious circuit to avoid. CHAPTEE VI. THE DEMERARA. The Lower District of that Eiver — Places of Worship of various Denominations — Its few Indian Inhabitants — The Upper District — Arampa — Malali — Visit to the above — Incidents. ■Quitting now the mid and purely Indian territory between the Essequibo and the Orinoco, we wiU take a brief glance at what was being done, or attempted, nearer the civilized districts of our province. The Demerara was, in point of time, behind other rivers of less importance as the scene of special efforts for the conversion of its aboriginal inhabitants. The Indians on the lower portion of that river, near the city, had become few in number, and did not occupy so important a position comparatively as those in districts more remote from civilization. Sugar and other estates were formed on either bank, extending a few miles from Georgetown ; and for a long distance above them the diminishing native tribes, who until the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury had been the only inhabitants, were necessarily THE BEMEBABA. 283 overshadowed and kept in the background by the larger and ever increasing number of settlers. The provision grounds of the latter — with their cottages nestling among the large and bright green leaves of the bananas, plantains, and other tropical fruit-trees — are very numerous and picturesque; breaking in an agreeable manner the more sombre character of the wild forest scenery. Those settlers were at first mostly of the black or coloured races, but among them many of Portuguese and Asiatic origin are now found.-' They support themselves by cultivating provisions, cutting timber, shingles, and firewood, and by making charcoal. The river near the city is often covered with their craft of various sizes, from the light canoe to the heavily- laden punt, bringing down their produce to a ready market. In the division of that county into parishes by the Legislature (1826-7), St. Matthew's, on the right bank, was aUotted to the Church of England, and St. Mark's, on the left, to the Church of Scotland. Beside the churches and chapels belonging to those bodies, other places of worship were from time to 1 Mr. Tye Kim, whose zealous labours at Singapore in the ■conversion of his countrymen to Christianity were honourably mentioned in the Quarterly Paper of the S.P.G. in May 1863, established, amidst many difficulties, the first settlement of Chinese at Camuni Creek on the Demerara, in 1865. While acting with -great energy in temporal matters, as the head and director of the village, he preached there in both the Amoy and Hakka dialects, and with assistant catechists itinerated among the Chinese immi- grants in other pai);s of the colony. 284 TEE INDIAN TBIBE8 OF GUIANA. time erected, until there were ten or twelve of various sizes and denominations scattered on the banks of tlie river, in what for convenience' sake we may here call its lower district ; i.e. within fifty or sixty mUes of its mouth. At some of these Indian worshippers might be found. The district, which is the subject of this brief sketch, extends above, to the cataract commonly caUed the Great Falls of the Demerara. It has been, in the upper portion especially, very thinly inhabited. A station was founded, at a place called Dalgin, by the exertions of three successive rectors of St. Matthew's— the Kevs. T. GUI, H. H. Jones, and D. Smith — who from time to time paid missionary visits to the upper portion of the river. They were aided by religious persons among the settlers, one of whom, a respectable black man named Alleyne, offered land, collected timber, and secured the services of a schoolmaster. A chapel school was at length built there ; Governor (afterwards Sir Philip) Wodehouse and many influential inhabitants of Georgetown attending the consecration, October 7th, 1856. To the congregation of settlers worshipping there, the neighbouring Araw4ks by degrees joined them- selves. Their visits to the Mahaicony mission (which during those years had been steadily progressing,; through the labours of its resident teacher, Mr. Taylor, and the supervision of the Kev. Mr. May, and others), contributed, in no small degree, to that result. Many of the Demerara Araw^ks were baptized at Dalgin, THE DEMEBABA. §85 and by the year 1865 about thirty of that race were in full communion there. The traveller proceeding from this station up the river would soon see on its left bank the fine set- tlement of Christianburg, with its extensive wood- cutting establishment and saw-mills. The Church of Scotland have here had a place of meeting and, a school. A few miles farther he would pass the beautiful bill of Akayma, in the neighbourhood of which other efforts of the English Church among the Indians have been made. Passing onward he would find the number of settlers gradually diminishing, and the aborigines coming more prominently into view. Ere reaching Siba, " the Eock," a boldly projecting hiU of granite, which commands the river, and was the site of the old Indian post, one or two of their thatched habitations may be seen from the water, peeping through the trees on the summit of an overhanging hiU, while their canoes are observed gliding near the bank, or passing in and out of the smaller streams. Higher up, the want of clothing and generally wUd appearance of the redskins show that they belong, not to the Araw4k race, but to that of the Kapohn. Mingled with the latter are individuals of the Macusi, Wapisiana, and other tribes " of the remote interior, who have come from the Brazilian borders to labour or seek protection among the settlers. The large punts, deeply laden and hung round with massive timbers, which are met descending the river above and below the rapids, show the skill and 28& T3E INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. energy of another portion of the inliabitants, the hardy woodcutters, whose operations extend to the Great Falls, The higher wants of this mixed population of wood- cutters and Indians, scattered along a space of one hundred miles, were for a long period unpro'^ded for. Here and there a settler might be found, who would gather his people together for united worship ; but little else was (or could be) done, to keep alive a sense of religion among them. At length, after repeated disappointnients, a mission was commenced for their benefit, which was placed for a short time under the Eev. Mr. Eastman. He was succeeded by the Eev. A. S. Tanner, a young clergyman, who entered zealously upon the missionary work before him. With a small boat, and a crew of four Indian lads, he moved along that extensive tract, holding periodical services at eight stations, and commencing the erection of a chapel above the rapids, on the picturesque and precipitous hill of Arampa. About Christmas 1856, this work was suspended for lack of funds. He had also to dismiss his crew from the same cause, and was then compelled to find his way from station to station as he best could ; sometimes paddling, with a little boy to steer, in a small wood-skin, and at other times taking a passage in a passing bateau. The cholera then visited the -colony, and the dread of that disease caused the Indians to hide themselves, and avoid the missionary. The work was, however, perseveringly carried on, and in the August following the Bishop found the TBE DEMEBABA. 287 "building crowded wilsh worsliippers. More than one hundred Indians were present among them. There were, however, certain inconveniences attend- ing the locality, which had been, perhaps, too hastily chosen, and a better situation had to be sought. About midway between Dalgin and the Falls are the rapids, commonly called Malali, from an Arawak word, signifying "swiftly rushing" (or flowing) water. The Demerara here cuts its way through a densely-wooded gorge two miles in length ; containing reefs of rocks which the Jieavily-laden punts cannot pass, except when the river is swollen. It was thought advisable to form a station and build a chapel at the foot of those impediments to navigation; a halting- place for most persons ascending or descending the river. That work was undertaken and successfully accom- plished by the Eev. G. H. Butt, who, after an interval, succeeded Mr. Tanner in the charge of that mission, and erected a building both picturesque and of good iaaterials. I accompanied Archdeacon Jones in visiting -that district, in May 1865. Although it was then tem- porarily vacant, and only served by monthly visits of the clergy of Georgetown and its neighbourhood, we had large gatherings of respectable settlers and Indians. Cornelius, now grown old and feeble in body, and Philip Capui, the young Acawoio from Pomeroon, went with us on this occasion, and were of great service among their respective tribes. From the chapel at Malali, we ascended the rapids, 288 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. and went on to the abandoned chapel at Arampa. Owing to the late heavy rains, we were about eight hours in going ten miles. This caused us, on our return, to be overtaken by night at the entrance- of the rapids ; and just when there was no retreat, a violent thunderstorm, which had been for hours gathering around the summit of Tiger HUl, in the neighbourhood, suddenly descended," and bxirst , over our heads. The peals reverberated grandly among the precipitous rocks from side to side, and the light- ning flashed vividly through torrents of rain. After each blinding flash total darkness seemed to enclose us; and it was with difficulty our swift course could be guided through that thickly-wooded gorge by a black boy, whom a kind settler had lent to steer us. A slight swerve from loss of nerve on his part ijoiight have been fatal. A double flash, fiercer than any that had preceded it, at length showed us with vivid distinctness the mission chapel, our desired haven. As we descended the river, two days after, we had another, proof of the insecurity of human life among the tribes of the interior. Two Indians passed us in a very light canoe. One was unadorned ; but the man who steered wore a handsome tiara of feathers, and had his skin covered all over with bright red spots, like those of a jaguar, save in colour. His eyes gleamed wildly through circles of the same paint ; and both himself and his companion were paddling with all their might against the stream.^ ^ One of our Indians recognised that spotted man as one whom THE DEMERABA. 28$ We soon after reached Siba, and landed to visit the hospitable family residing there, and to speak to some Indians from the interior in their employ. The lafter we could not then find ; but, as we were re-embarking, a strange Indian came over the steep rock, and descended hastily to the water-side. He was a man of singular and somewhat grotesque appearance, having both arms and thighs scarified in parallel downward lines, which were cross-barred with streaks of blue paint; the former being considered by his tribe a remedy against rheumatic pains, and the latter very ornamental. He was excited — ^pointed up the river, and finding that PhUip" understood his language, told us that "the paittted man, who had so hurriedly passed us, had assassraated another Indian the day before, and was then fljnug back to the distant interior." The remote mountain tribes of the south-west had been for some time at war, as we had already heard, and many Arecunas and others had come among our settlements to avoid the strife. Safety is, how- ever, in such cases, difficult to obtain. When an Indian has once devoted himself to accomplish the death of another, he will follow him any distance, and undergo any privation, to fulfil his deadly purpose. The Indians of the Essequibo, and from the he had seen watching a group of Indians from the corner of a street in. Georgetown, ten days before. He had not then assumed his paint. He probably tracked his intended victim from the remote interior to the city, and afterwards back to the forest, where he accomplished his deadly purpose of Kanaima. D 29Q TSU INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. tributaries qf that river, in their joumeyg to and from that p^-rt of the Demerara, avail themselves of the path by which Waterton crossed, at a place called Coomaparo, a few miles below the falls^.^ Those fails we had not time to visit on that occasion. The Bishop, however, had seen them ia 1851, and noticed them in his published journal, The following circumstance, then witnessed by the Bishop, exhibits one of the most pleasing traits in the Indian character. The reader may pla,CQ it in contrast with the dark incident which, on the same river, came under our notice. '^ Between the Demerara Falls and the Essequlbo is a re- markable rock, wliich. few save Indians have hitherto seen. The name of that rock is Mahoora; it is the uppermost of a suc- cession of huge natural terraces. The ascent to the sununit from the level forest below occupies some hours. The rock itself is almost perpendicular. Its face is worn with the streams which have run down it during the heavy tropical rains of many ages, and broken up into huge boulders. Its top is level and of considerable extent. From the west end there is a fine view over an immense tract of country, with the broad Essequibo flowing through it and partly hidden by a range of hills. The forest at the base of the terraces appears from that height like a well-stocked cabbage garden. In the western base of the rock is a large cave, which has an inner chamber with a narrow entrance. The cave is reached by another path than that which leads to the summit, and the dis- tance is too great for both to be visited on the same day. The cock of the rock, beautiful in the golden-orange tints of his plumage, and his double fan-like crest, has made that cavern his abode. The nests of those brilliant birds are at some distance from the sandy floor, attached to the rocky sides. Mr. C. Bispham, lay reader at Malali station after our visit, made a journey to Maboora, and from his description the above account is taken. TRE BEMERABA. 291 " In approaching the falls we halted at an Indian settlement on the left bank, and here we saw a young jaguar. It was a few weeks old, and ex- tremely savage when any of us went near it. But never did I observe such apparent gentleness and attachment in any animal as when, after one or two of our party had certainly not gone the way to win the little creature's affections, it allowed itself to be drawn close to us by an Indian woman, and afterwards by a little child. Not a moment before it was as angry and savage as could be ; but no sooner did the child draw it towards her, than, looking up with an expression of intelligence and trustfulness quite new to me, it nestled itself within the embrace of its kind protectress. The Indians are proverbially famed for the facility with which they attract animals towards them." May an influence like that obtained over the young jaguar by the little Indian maid be exerted by the mildly-subduing power of Christianity over her wild heathen countrymen, who, in devoting themselves, like the spotted man we saw, to "Kanaima" murder, have avowedly taken the jaguar^ as their pattern. May the Saviour's example and meek doctrines of mercy and forgiveness soften their hearts until, in the words of the Holy Scripture: " A little child shall lead them." 1 See Chap. x. CJ 2 CHAPTER VII. BERBICE AND EASTERN GUIANA. The old Dutch Colony on the Berbice gradually ahandoned for the Coast Lands — Scene of the Moravian Labours — Efforts to Christianize the Indians during the present Century — Mis- sionary Expedition to the Acawoios near the Cataracts, 1866 — Incidents ^Open and healthy Savannahs which border the Berbice. The Corentyn — Indian District — Indian Slave-trade — Eeport on the various Tribes on that Eiver, 1866 — OreaUa. Indian Tribes of Dutch and French Guiana. About sixty miles to the eastward of Georgetown, the Berbice, a larger river than the Demerara, flows into the Atlantic. In the early part of the seven- teenth century its banks became the seat of a flourishing colony, which was established about twenty years after that on the Essequibo, and more than a century before the settlements on the Demerara became important. The latter river, having a more central position, and an entrance-channel of greater depth, has now become the chief port of the united province. The more shallow entrance of the Berbice, however, though a great disadvantage of late, could have ofiered httle impediment to the Dutch navigators of those days. THE BERBIGE. 293 whose flat-bottomed ships were of far less tonnage than many which now visit the colony. Where the neat and quiet town of New Amsterdam now stands, and where cultivation and cattle-farms are seen stretching eastward and westward along the line of coast, there was then an unbroken tract of marshy forest. The old Dutch maps show that that woody wilderness extended up the river nearly to ■Fort Nassau, about forty-five miles from its mouth. From that spot, then the seat of government, plan- tation succeeded plantation for many miles — there being more than one hundred on the Berbice, and. a considerable number high up its tributary, the Canje. On those estates coffee, sugar, and other tropical productions were grown. In those lawless times, when the West Indian seas were overrun by buccaneers, whose piratical descents rendered it dangerous to cultivate the rich alluvial lands of the coast, the colonists were confined to the rivers, whose channels could be, by means of forts, defended with comparative ease. Among all the fine streams which water the land there is none equal to the Berbice for the purposes of colonization. The banks are, with few interruptions, of moderate and equal height ; and the rapids and cataracts, — pictu- resque but fatal obstacles to navigation, — are situated much higher up than in any other of our rivers, there being none within 160 miles of its mouth. Moreover, while the many windings of the river gave ample frontage to the estates for drainage and water communication, the vast open savannahs, a 294 TKE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. peculiar feature of Berbice, allowed of easy land- conmninication in their rear. The colonists conld ride by short cuts from place to place, and paths were made across the " downs ;" which, connecting post with post, were valuable for military purposes, a;S well as for those of business and pleasure. From the settlement of those plantations tOl near the end of the last century, that part of the Berbice must have presented a lively scene. Light and gaily- j)ainted tent-boats, with punts and heavy craft, were moving on its waters, whUe sounds of labour, or of evening merriment, not unmixed, however, at times with different and less pleasant cries, arose from the plantations which studded its banks. But at length the coast lands and the lower parts of the rivers began to be cultivated. The seat of government was transferred to the present New Amsterdam, and that once prosperous district became gradually deserted. Nature resumed her sway, and tall forests once more stand where the garden-like Dutch plantations flourished. The old colony of Berbice has a history of con- siderable interest, for its vicissitudes were great. Accounts of the early invasions of the French, &c., and of the terrible insurrection of 1763, are of course to be found in the works of Dutch authors : and many incidents connected with them may stUl be heard from the lips of the descendants of the old colonists, though most of those traditions will expire with the present generation. From the accounts, both written and oral, which THE BERBIOE. 295 have come down to us, it appears that religion was at a very low ebb among the community at large. No effectual efforts were made to impart Christianity, either to their slaves or to the Indians in the forests around. The Moravians alone, in this respect, seem to have striven to fuljfil the Divine command. In the First Part of this work we have given a brief sketch of the Moravian Mission in Berbice. It lasted only a quarter of a century, and was destroyed in 1763. A long period of neglect ensued. Even after the work among the Indians had been begun by our Church missionaries on the Essequibo in 1829, several years elapsed ere any efforts were made for the conversion of those on the Berbice. About the year 1842, a Mr. Meyers (who was, I believe, of German extraction), having previously visited the Pomeroon, and found that important Indian district pre-occupied, undertook the office of teacher on the Besrbice. For a few years he laboured with much zeal, travelUng from place to place by land as well as by water. On one occasion, having rashly dismissed a guide whom a settler had charged to convey him safely to an Indian settlement, he lost his way on the great Manacaburi savannah. He had his hammock with him, and fortunately found some ripe wild fruits, on which he managed to sus- tain life, but the danger to which he was exposed from wild beasts and reptiles was very great. After wandering for some days, and beiag exhausted with fatigue, anxiety, and privation, the unfortunate man 296 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GVIANA. was at length found, and rescued from impending death by some Araw4ks near the Abari. He died some years after at Coomacka, where he had col- lected some Indians around him. They dispersed after his death, and our Bishop, when in 1851 he ascended the river as far as that spot, found few remaining. On that occasion the settlers petitioned that a clergyman might be sent to labour among them. The Eev. J. M'Clelland was first appointed. He was succeeded by the Eevs. T. Farrer, R. HUlis, and L. M'Kenzie, each for a short period. In 1858 the Eev. M. B. Johnson was placed in charge of the district, and remaiacd there nearly seven years. During that period a chapel was built near the Hitia savannah. A malignant sore, supposed to have been first occasioned by the poisonous bite of a fly between the eyes, compelled him at length to rehnquish his post, and after great and protracted suffering, endured with much patience, his weary spirit sought its rest. It being desirable, for missionary purposes, to ex- plore the whole river as far as it is iahabited, and ascertain by personal inspection the tribes, numbers, and condition of its entire Indian population, an expedition was resolved on for that purpose. The Bishop decided to go in person, and to take with him the Rev. Mr. Wyatt and myself. As there were said to be Acawoios living very high up the river, I sent for Philip Capui from the Pomeroon, hopiag that he might be of service among his heathen brethren. TRB BEBBIOB. 297 We left New Amsterdam April 13tli, 1866, in two boats ; OTir party being large, and having to carry- provisions for many days. That evening we reached Mara, the highest point of sugar cultivation. We left the manager's hospitable roof about mid- night, and at daybreak reached the first savannahs, called Bartika Downs, and swung our hammocks under some trees in an old cattle-pen. In the after- noon we passed the site of Fort Nassau and the Old Town (rehcs of which may still be found among the over-growing bush), and came a little before sunset to some sand-hills, from the back of which the Hitia savannah stretches towards the Mahaicony. Here we saw the little mission-chapel, standing on the summit of a steep and picturesque hill. The next day was Sunday, and our service was attended not only by the settlers, but also by the Araw^ks from Hitia and Manacaburi. It was cheer- iug to see every race on the banks of the river joining in the various services, and represented at the Holy Eucharist, though the numbers were not large. The Araw^ks, having been catechized after service, ex- pressed their desire for further instruction, and intention of meeting us on our return. At nightfall we resumed our course, resting during the next ebb-tide at the settlement of a Mr. Hartmann, near the Wieroni. There was a small community of Araw4ks a little distance up that stream, and Mr. Wyatt took me at , daybreak in the smaller boat to visit them. On landing we saw several neat cottages, but only 298 THB INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. two women wete visible. They, according to Indian ideas of propriety, declined to converse witli strangers of the opposite sex. A few kind words, however, and the title of mother in her own language, overcame the reserve of the elder woman, who immediately became copious and voluble in her communications; She told us that the men were in another part of the village, and led us through a shady grove to see them, They were few in number, shy at first, and uil- willing to converse, but in a little time that feeling wore off. They then told us of their position — that they were Christians, with no resident teacher, and that a Mr. Avelyn, from the Demerara, had been formerly accustomed to visit them. Their place of meeting was well suited to their circumstances, and to the climate ; being a large room, open at the sides and at one end. They had paved it with old Dutch bricks, which may be obtained in great quantities on the sites of the abandoned plantations. Most of the party were dressed in European cloth- ing. The nearest approach to their natural habits which we saw was in a young woman, who carried about with her a little black monkey. The poor animal, which bad lost one eye by a shot, was borne, according to their custom, on her head, with its paws tightly grasping her glossy hair. They all accompanied us to the water-side, partly to say farewell, and partly to see Philip, of whom we had told them, evidently regarding an Acawoio Christian who could read and teach as something THE BEBBICE. 299 very marvellous. They were probably not a little disappointed at finding Mm unpainted, — with, no sticks through his ears and nose, — and in dress and appear- ance much like one of themselves. Not far from that place we reached a district where settlers were rather numerous. There the London mis- sionaries had built a chapel five or six years before on the left bank of the river. At length we reached Coomacka. A range of richly- wooded high land here forms the western bank, behind which the open downs stretch for many miles towards the Demerara. We found quarters at the settlement of an intelli- gent Araw^k named Jeremiah. His house was neat and spacious ; and it was gratifying to see that, in order to accommodate his Indian brethren and the settlers who were in the habit of there meeting the clergyman for Divine service, he had fitted up one half with benches. These were made, not of boards, which he could not afford, but of straight sticks, laid close together and secured on uprights. Eain fell so heavily this day that we saw only a few Indians. A Httle girl present had on her head a small black monkey, like the one we had seen before, save that this had both eyes. The forest around, and for some miles above, was full of the relics of former cultivation. Bricks in great numbers showed where the buildings of the old estates had stood. At a very wild-looking place, where we chanced to land to rest our crews, the well-marked beds and drains, over which tall trees 300 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. ■were growing, showed that civilized man had once "replenished and subdued'' that part of the earth. It was rather saddening to see those signs of aban- donment, where man had once planted his foot and made his mark so firmly, though we knew that the former cultivators had not been driven off, but had migrated by degrees to a richer soil. In the course of the next day we left those rehcs of civUizatioh far behind, and among them the site of the old Moravian mission, destroyed 103 years before. There were no more settlements. We had to find a little " bawndboho " (or shed) to sleep under — tie our hammocks between the trees, or lie upon the narrow benches of our boats, as the case might be. Our fifth and sixth days' voyage was through the same dense forest, in which were the scattered dwell- ings of a very few Araw4ks. Our chief object being to reach and open communication with the Acawoios, we pushed on. Having been told by the settlers below that we should find Acawoios near a small stream called Mombaca, it was arranged that Mr. Wyatt and myself should go on before in the smaller boat, with Phihp,, to visit them. We had been told that we should have to leave our boat at the mouth of the stream, whence a path would lead us direct to the settlement. Instead of this, we found neither landing-place nor path until we had been nearly an hour cutting and forcing our way up the obstructed stream, Philip and Jeremiah then took their guns and went with me to the settlement. It was about two miles THB BEBBICE. 30 1 distant, situated on a pleasant lawn-like plain, fringed witli woodland, which admitted here and there a view of the distant savannah. In this charming spot, which was kept very clean, were six or seven houses, and as many dogs. The latter rushed at us, barking fiercely, but no human being was visible, and no voice answered our hail. At last we found an old woman who had shut herself in an enclosed house, and pretended to be busy siftiug cassava meal. She would neither look at us, nor reply to Philip's civil salutation and questions. At length, finding us im- portunate, she said, sharply, in Arawik, '' No Aca- woios live here." Being asked where the Arawik men of the settlement then were, she said, " Absent," — which was indeed sufficiently evident. We then asked where we should find the Acawoios, and she replied, " At Coroduni." We then ventured to inquire where that place was situated, and were told, " At the head of the river." As no traveller had yet reached the head of the Berbice, this information was rather vague and indefinite, but it was all we could get from her. She spoke with laconic severity, as if she knew that we were after no good, or our ignorance of the locality were something quite inexcusable and personally offensive. We therefore took our leave, after trying to explain the object of our visit, which she heard with a sort of grunt, betokening indif- ference. There was no reason to' doubt the truth of the poor old woman's statement, though contrary to the infor- mation we had received. Her village seems to have 302 TSE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. been a frontier-post between tbe nations. Mombaea, who bad lived there some years before, was of naixed Araw4k and Acawoio race, and acted as a sort of consul for botb. He seems to bave been a man of some consequence, attentive to Ms personal dignity and Indian etiquette in general. A gentleman of New Amsterdam told me tbat be one day fomid bim entertaining a party of Acawoios — distiaguisbed visitors, it seemed, from tbe interior. He was, of course, in fuU costume as an Indian cbief, and decorated for tbe occasion. One of bis legs be bad painted red, and tbe otber black, — a tasteful variety wbicb migbt bave been assumed as significant of tbe two races to wbicb be belonged, and tbe juat and equal manner in wbicb bis affection and duty were divided between tbem. Having extricated our boat from tbat obstructed stream, we pusbed on to communicate to tbe Bishop the scanty information we had acquired. But it happened that the otber boat, some mUes ahead, was pushing on at equal speed in the hope of overtaking us. Our little craft not having been visible at the mouth of the Mombaea, they concluded that we bad already gone on. Passing a high and precipitous hill of white sand, rising direct from the water, and affording from its summit one of the finest views of woodland imagin- able, we arrived at a place where the river divides, forming Yowanna Island. Up one side of this we went, and should have descended the other to search for the Bishop's boat ; bad not Jeremiah, who in his TWM BMMBICE. 303 little canoe hovered about us witt guardian care, proceeded quietly up the other channel, and meeting us above, told us that it was not there. ^onae miles higher, after a glorious sunset, the shades of evening overtook us on the still river. "We had reached a place where it seemed to divide again, and we knew not which course to take. We feared alsp that the Bishop might not have come on so far. Therefore we landed, our prospect for the night being rather a poor one. The stores and luggage were in the larger boat. We had no hammocks, nor any food, save one small tin of preserved meat. One of our black rowers, however, had a few plantains, which were shared among all. Large fires were made on the shore j the night was dry, and after prayers we lay down on the benches of the boat. The landing- place seemed a charming spot to bathe in, but there was a strange commotion, with gleaming flashes, in the water, occasioned, we found, by the movements of the bloodthirsty little fishes called pirai, of which we had never seen such a multitude together. They attacked with their formidable jaws and ravenous ferocity everything that fell overboard.^ '^. "Serrasalmo niger" (Caribi "Pirai" Araw^k " jffuma"). ^gjjpm'biirgk, who attentively,, oTDserved the habits of these voracious creatures, says that they ■will attack and devour fish of ten times their own weight, beginning at the caudal fin, and so disabling their victim. On the Corentyn he fell in with a large lugunani (or sun-fish) surrounded by pirais. They had devoured it piecemeal to within its pectoral fins, yet it was still alive. There is scarcely any animal that they wUl not attack — man certainly is not excepted. " Large alligators, which have been wounded on the tail, afford them a fine chance of satisfying their hunger." '304 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. Our kiad Araw4k, thougli tired, and unacquainted with the river so higt up, went on, and fortunately- taking the right channel, found the Bishop encamped about two hours' paddle farther on, and very anxious about us. He returned the same night with the welcome news, and after telliug PhiHp which course to steer, departed homewards to his family. His companionship had been providential. But for him both parties (one entirely without food) would have descended the river some distance next day to search for each other, and by keeping the same distance apart, or takiag different channels, might have failed in meeting again. The loss of even a few hours would, as we after- wards found, have prevented our reaching the Aca- woios ; while, as it fortunately happened, our forced progress alone enabled us to accomplish that — the main object of our voyage. Early the next morning we reached the Bishop's encampment, to the satisfaction of aU. On landing, I observed the deep track of a tapir or maipuri ia the soft forest earth immediately behind it. Large drops of blood on the fallen leaves showed that it had been wounded. A jaguar or some other savage animal had probably sprung on it during the night, and been dislodged by the tapir's dashing against a tree, or taking to the river. Whatever the cause, the The sun-fish mentioned above is so named from a golden circle on tlie tail, and differs much, in shape and size from the clumsy- looking sea- fish commonly known by that name. THU BERBICE. 305 freshness of the blood and the state of the track showed that the bleeding animal had passed only a few hours before. A short pull brought us into the Mapa Lake, a small sheet of water with high land on one side, which we ascended for a few minutes to enjoy the view. We found some difficulty in getting out of this lake, there being several apparent openings which resemble the river. Three of these we entered in succession before we found the right one. Those false openings, which probably show its former channels, are a peculiar feature of that part of the Berbice. That day we passed an encampment, with ham- mocks slung to trees, and wood-skin canoes and captive turtles tied at the water side. The people, who were probably the Araw4ks from Mombaca, were not visible. They were catching fish by poisoning a stream in the neighbourhood, as we judged from the haiarri roots left in the camp. Our rowers now had heavy work. The tide, which ascends in the Berbice higher than in any other of our rivers, no longer checked the current, which, narrowed by sandbanks, ran strongly against us. Those banks, where they rise above the water, are frequented by guanas, which bask luxuriously in the sun and lay their eggs there. A few shrubs grow on them, and in one spot wild vines intertwining had formed a fairy bower, surmounted by the slender stem and feathery crown of a small palm which supported it; — the light green of the whole being X 306 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. beautifully relieved by the dark foliage of the forest behind. As we bivouacked the night following among the trees on the river's bank, we were getting very anxious as to the success of our expedition. Having engage- ments for service down the river, it was an imperative duty to commence our return the next day. Of the people we sought we could see and hear nothing, though we had expected to meet them long before. Very early the next morning we proceeded, still winding onward through an interminable and unin- habited forest. For the last forty-two hours we had not met a human being — but we knew that the cataracts of the Berbice could not now be far oflf, and that the Acawoios lived below them, and therefore resolved to push on for three hours longer before giving up the effort to find them. Ere we had sufficient daylight clearly to discern our course, both boats struck sharply on the rocky bed of a rapid. Finding a channel to the left we went on. Our prospect of success was rapidly diminishing as minutes and half-hours flew past, when on rounding a point we came suddenly in view of a newly-cleared Indian settlement, which was greeted with a shout of joy from our weary crews. Very pleasant it was to see it peeping from the tall forest on the river's bank, with several small islands in front ; — while the higher region, from which the river descends by many falls, was rendered visible by the rising sun, above the morning mist which stiU hung over the intervening forest. THE BERBIGE, 307 The settlement was Corodimi, and we found there the few Acawoios we had come so far to seek. The men present were handsome and well-shaped, wore small moustachios, unusual with Indians, and were not disfigured by uncouth ornaments. The chief, Simon, who was the finest man at the settlement, came down the trunk of one of the feUed trees, and, after a short parley with PhUip, piloted us to the landing-place. We found there two or three settlers, who had come that great distance to procure and salt fish. All were invited to join us in morning prayers, after which Philip and myself sat down on the timber to confer with the Indians in their native manner, while the rest of our party, that they might not distract attention, proceeded onward some distance' up the river. It was a great satisfaction to find that the dialect of the western Acawoios spoken by Philip did not differ materially from that of this most eastern clan. The words of the Creed, &c., were well understood, though they had never heard them before. We gave each a copy, knowuig by experience that, though they could not read, the Scripture illustrations would interest them, and the explanation we gave of them be remem- bered. They then begged for some for absent members of their families, and for strangers who might visit them. But their greatest interest was excited by some large coloured Scripture prints which Mr. Wyatt had brought, AU, save one individual, pressed forward to hear them explained. The exception was the wife of the chief man, a fine intelligent-looking X 2 308 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. woman, who, evidently ashamed in our presence of lier scanty attire, sat brooding over the fire and tried hard to take no notice. But when Philip spoke of God as having sent His Son into the world to take our nature upon Him, and a picture of the babe lying in the manger at Bethlehem was shown, the poor Indian matron could not resist that attraction, but quietly crept close to us, and became from that moment most deeply interested in the narrative of the Saviour's life. When the Bishop and party again landed, we had nearly completed the series. From the manger we had come to the cross. He found our little audience gazing intently on a lithograph of the Crucifixion, and through the interpreter addressed them on that solemn subject. The singing of the 100th Psalm, followed by prayer and the Benediction, completed this, the first missionary service among them. The sun was now high in the heavens. Gladly would we have remained longer with those Indians, but could not. It would also have been pleasant to have visited, under their guidance, the interesting tract of country above them, the blue outline of which was visible from their settlement. They could have gone with us, they said, in about three hours, to the lowest fall, the cascade of Idure- wadde, and in less than a day to Itabru cataract. Above these are the falls and rapids, said to be more than forty in number, of the Christmas^ cataracts, 1 Schomburgk's party spent the Christmas of 1836 at those catar racts, and named them after that festival None of the Indians THE BEBBIGE. 309 ■wMcli cost Schomburgk's exploring party such labour and peril to surmount ; and where, on their return, one of his companions, rashly standing on the thwarts of the canoe while "shooting" a fall, upset it, and was drowned. Large alligators (or caymans) abound there. They lie like logs of wood at the foot of cataract or rapid, ready to snatch and swallow whatever the increased rapidity of the current may bring down to them.^ At no great distance above, though only to be reached with much toil and difl&culty, is the lagoon, where the above-named traveller discovered the mag- nificent lily of the Berbice — the now world-famed Victoria Eegia. From the Acawoio settlement where we then were, to the highest point explored on the Berbice, the distance in a direct line is little more than one degree of latitude, though it would have taken many weeks to surmount the impediments which intervene. The upper cataracts could only be passed by an ex- pedition specially fitted out (with stores and hawsers) for that purpose, but the two lower were within easy reach from the point we had attained — had duty permitted us to spare but a few hours. With a feeling of natural regret, therefore, we left them — unvisited, though so near. But we had done, how- knew of any name previously given them, or had helieved it pos- sible to surmount them. ^ " The upper river Berbice seemed, above all others, to swarm with those horrid monsters." — Sohombueqk's Natural History of ilie Fishes of Guiana. 310 THi! INDIAN TBIBES OP GUIANA. ever imperfectly, the work we came to do — had given a call in Christ's name to the few Acawoios in this part. It was indeed a very little seed, and cast upon ground totally unprepared by man's labour, but God could cause it to take root, and fruit to follow. Our swift run down the river was attended by no incident of importance. We again visited Mapa Lake, and again our pilots took a false channel in leaving it. The crews of the two boats had been merry, each at the other's expense, respecting the former mistakes, and were now proceeding side by side in a wrong course, till our Indian, by the absence of current, detected the error, and we had to try back again. The white sand-hill was passed by night. Masses of watery cloud were flitting over the moon, and the white precipice, high above the river, resembled a giant phantom, fitfuUy gleaming forth for a few minutes in the light, and then apparently sinking back ia the returning gloom. We reached Coomacka at the appointed time, having accomplished' our last two forced stages through torrents of rain. The next day Jeremiah's house was filled with his countrymen from the Etooni, Wikkie, and other streams, and by the respectable settlers from the neighbourhood. Among the Indians was a young woman whose father, and the other members of her family, had been massacred by hired Acawoios some years before, as has been related.^ ^ Part II. chap. v. THE BEBBIOE. 311 Two more stages brought us into the neighbour- hood of the Hitia Araw^ks, who, true to their appoiutment, came from their settlements to meet us. A few days later our party separated at New Amsterdam. By the end of the week Philip and myself had returned to the other end of the colony. The former on reaching his forest home had travelled, both ways included, 700 miles, — a good distance even for an Acawoio. We soon after heard that his countrymen whom we had visited in the vicinity of the Berbice falls had been down to Coomacka* for further* instruction. From the above imperfect sketch, the reader may gather that the Araw^ks of the Berbice had made a considerable advance since the revival of missionary labour there. Very much, indeed, remained to be done, but it was evident to us that many Indians as well as settlers were believers in Christ, and attentive to moral and religious duties. There were probably about 250 settlers in the mission district at the time of our visit, and 500 Arawiks. The latter were said to have greatly diminished of late years. But those numbers are not given as exact, and there may be more. To conclude our notice of the Berbice. The savannahs, which are a peculiar feature of the country watered by that fine stream, extend eastward to 1 A station was, some time after, formed at Coomacka, and the Eev. Mr. Dance placed as missionary there. The neighbouring Indians and others willingly aided in the erection of a cottage and a building to be used as a chapel-sohooL 312 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. the Corentyn, and westward to the Demerara. They are from twenty to eighty feet above the level of the river. Though the soil is probably only suited for pasturage, the breeze that blows over them is most pure and bracing. Favourite spots were re- sorted to by the old Dutch colonists for health and recreation. The view from Coomacka across those downs resembled certain parts of England more than a tropical region. There were indeed neither hedgerows, nor village spires, and no white flocks dotted the landscape ; but small copses were scattered here and there, and a line of trees, seen among the un- dulations, marked the course of the distant Etooni. The air was temperate and the breeze refreshing. Coveys of "besuru" sprang up before us with a whirring noise, so like partridges that one might for the moment almost have expected to see the sportsman in quest of them with dog and gun. The illusion (recalling scenes which I had not re- visited for many long years) was broken by glimpses of the leaves and golden fruit of the Awarra palm, peeping from beneath the taUer trees — by swarms of dust-like flies entering eyes, ears, and nostrils — and by the care necessary to avoid the rattlesnakes, which are found on those dry and elevated lands ; — " One, one, not many," said my quiet Arawik guide. — Still, notwithstanding snakes, flies, and other points of diff'erence, it was impossible to look upon the scene without thinking of that which the wander- ing Briton and the Anglo-American equally call " the THU COBENTYN. 313 old country." It recalled to mind the touching lines, written in the far distant East, in which the good Bishop Heber expressed the feelings of those who, amidst the glowing luxuriance of "Indian bowers," still think on and long for the temperate bracing clime, and " good greenwood" of their mother land : — "And bless, beneath. th.e palmy shade, Her hazel and her hawthorn glade, And breathe a prayer (how oft in vain) To gaze npon her oaks again ! " The CoRENTYN, to the eastward of the Berbice, forms the boundary of the colony on that side. It is a river only inferior in size to the Essequibo, and is supposed to have its source near the Equator, in the same mountain chain, the Sierra Acarai. Though a large river, the banks of the Corentyn are very thinly inhabited. It was considered in- ferior to the Berbice for the purposes of colonization, and left by the Dutch to its aboriginal inhabitants, now fast dwindling away. The district occupied by the Indians, who are of the Araw^k, Warau, and Caribi races, commences about forty miles from its mouth, at Orealla, the " chalk" hills, and does not extend very far. Above the last Carib settlement all is desolate. The voyager passes day after day through the wildest and most romantic scenery, meeting numerous islands, rocks, and rapids ; — but though the handiwork of man in days long past may be seen in rude carvings on 314 THE INDIAN TRIBES OF GUIANA. the perpendicular sides of the rocks, there are no human habitations on the banks of the river, — no light canoes on its waters, — and the solitude is oppressive. At length, in about nine days' voyage, the Falls are reached, and the traveller's patience rewarded by the scene which meets his view. Enormous rocks, heaped together, oppose further progress even on foot; immense chasms yawn beneath, and at certain places the streams disappear as if by magic, and make their reappearance where least ex- pected. The thundering noise, and hovering mist, in which thousands of birds disport themselves, mark the position of the larger falls; but the scene is too extensive for the whole to be beheld in its full grandeur from any siagle point of view. Those great cataracts of the Corentyn have been seen by few save the Indians themselves. Schom- burgk considered them as superior in grandeur to anything he had met with in Guiana. ^ Subsequently to his explorations, an expedition, consisting of Governor (afterwards Sir Henry) Barkly, the Bishop of Guiana, and others of the principal colonists, reached them in 1852. Few others have visited them. In days of old, when the Caribs were supreme in Guiana, this river was one of their favourite abodes. 1 The most western of the falls was named by him after the then governor, Six James Carmichael Smyth, the eastern after Sir John Barrow. The Caribs have their own names for these, and other parts of the Great Falls of the Corentyn. 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